The Butterfly Effect
by Anna Nigma
Summary: The smallest change can affect the world in ways that no one could imagine. Ryuuzaki Sakuno as you've never seen her before. SakunoXMany. Because yes she's just that lucky. Ch. 6 Yukimura and the Mysterious Past
1. In which a butterfly flaps its wings

Disclaimer: I can't even play tennis

_I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much._

_-Mother Teresa of Calcutta _

Chapter 1: In which a butterfly flaps its wings and Sumire contemplates granddaughters, ghosts, and the nature of change

**Prince of Tennis **

The smallest change can completely and irrevocably alter the path an individual will walk for the rest of their lives. Hesitating one second longer before crossing the street could mean the difference of getting hit by a car or watching it pass by harmlessly. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator means not meeting the person you one day might have married. Every choice ever made, no matter how small, directly affects the course of history. _Because when a butterfly flaps its wings on one side of the world . . . _

**Prince of Tennis**

Ryuuzaki Sumire sighed and looked down at her youngest grandchild. It had been nearly two months since the accident and while that was not nearly enough time to get over what had happened the healing process had started. The only problem was that she was afraid that Sakuno was healing _wrong. _

Before everything had fallen apart Sakuno had been the friendliest and most open of all of her grandchildren, to an almost worrying degree in fact. Her parents had always been terrified that their energetic, helpful five-year-old would one day go off to help someone and not come back. And despite their near constant orders not to Sakuno could often be found talking to a new "friend" that she had made at the park or outside of her school or in one of the many other places where all a manner of unsavory characters could be found. Sumire supposed that if the girl's biggest character flaw was a predilection to believe the best of everyone then she really couldn't find fault with any of the decisions that her son had made in raising the child. Some of his other decisions however. . .

She didn't think that she had ever been so disappointed in another human being, but what was done was done and dwelling on it was worse than useless. Sumire shook her head to clear that line of thought away and felt the weight of her granddaughter's large brown eyes on her, silently asking if she was alright. She smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner and turned away again. That was the problem, not even three months ago Sakuno would have asked what was wrong, probably quite loudly, and continued to ask until she received a truthful answer, some unique sixth sense telling her when she was being lied to. She didn't know this little ghost, who stuttered where Sakuno had shouted, blushed when she should have laughed, and preferred empty, false comfort to the cold hard truth that her granddaughter, at five, had already always demanded from everyone around her.

Sumire slowed down as she felt the subject of her thoughts stumble over an almost nonexistent crack in the sidewalk and clasped the little girl's hand more tightly within her own. She smiled wryly, that at least had not changed, the poor girl had never been able to walk more than a few feet at a time without tripping and falling. Her perpetually skinned knees were the subject of much fretting among her Aunties and older female cousins who worried good naturedly about scars and whether they would affect her chances of becoming a bride.

On that note Sakuno's Aunt Kotoko was never going let her hear the end of it if the two of them were late to Kyou's recital. They were behind schedule as it was, traffic had been awful and before that Sakuno had been an absolute nightmare to get ready and at one point Sumire had been prepared to beg off and just stay home. But the last few months had been hectic. Adjusting to life with any five-year-old, much less a grieving one, while holding down a full time job that required her to deal with prepubescent boys and all the issues that came with them for most of the day was no mean feat and she hadn't gotten to see much of her other family. Besides that it would do the child some good to get out of the house and spend time with other people.

Sakuno had always been small for her age and it was an easy thing for Sumire to swing her up onto a hip, eliciting a squeak of surprise from the little girl, and walk quickly up the steps of the building. Opening the door was a bit harder than walking but she managed eventually and the rush of warm air and light from inside was gratifying after walking through the dark chilly parking lot. Sumire turned in both of their coats at the desk and proceeded further into the hotel where the event was being held.

"Sumire, there you are, we were afraid that you wouldn't be able to make it!"

And there was Kotoko, looking harried and wearing a bit too much makeup, but both of those things were normal for her. She had been a beauty once, but time and three children, two of whom were twins who could not seem to listen I their lives depended on it, had sapped her of most of it.

"And little Sakuno too! Everyone will be so happy to see you sweetie." Her voice was shrill and slightly nasal but she sounded genuinely happy to see the two of them.

She threw out her arms to give Sakuno a hug but instead of responding the little girl only shrank back against her grandmother and buried her face in the old lady's neck. Kotoko shot Sumire a worried look and glanced meaningfully at Sakuno. Sumire shook her head and tried to convey just how trying things had been lately without speaking. Kotoko seemed to understand and her look of concern deepened and she laid one hand on her mother-in-law's arm in silent support. Touched by the gesture Sumire reminded herself to be kinder to her fourth son's wife the next time she said or did something undeniably silly. Kotoko had a good heart but lacked the common sense to use it effectively.

"Everyone is waiting in here until the performance starts." Kotoko continued gamely, forcing herself to sound cheerful while gesturing to a set of large double doors a few yards down the hall.

Sumire nodded, and the two of them made their way up the hall and into the room in silence. With Kotoko however, silence never lasted for any extended period of time and their presence was quickly announced to the room at large when she called her husband over to greet them and then went back outside to usher in other late comers. For the next twenty minutes the two were treated to a steady stream of visitors. Sakuno was the baby of the family and was very popular with everyone for her happy disposition and willingness to be cuddled, and everyone was eager to see how she was doing and then worried once they had.

Sumire's back was beginning to ache from holding Sakuno but she started to cry every time the old woman attempted to put her down and did not want to be held by anyone else. Sumire was about to go looking for Kotoko to see if it would be possible to enter the auditorium early so that she could sit down when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind and turned around to say hello.

"Ohayo obaachan," The voice was soft and polite and Sumire's back almost sang Hallelujah at hearing it.

Keiichi, if there was anyone in the world that Sakuno would allow to hold her besides her grandmother it would be Keiichi. He was her favorite cousin and they looked similar enough that when they were out together people often mistook them as siblings, a fact that had never failed to delight the little girl. He was in his last year of middle school and was nearly as tall Sumire and still had the lanky, almost disproportionate look of a boy who still had quite a bit of growing to do. Sumire was shocked for a moment by his appearance, she was sure he had not been this tall the last time she had seen him and he look startlingly grown up in his formal attire.

Sakuno had recognized her cousin's voice and tensed slightly in her grandmother's arms, a single eye peeking out shyly from the place in Sumire's neck where her entire face had been hidden not a moment before.

Keiichi took a step forward and his eyes widened comically in exaggerated shock "And Saku-hime is here too, and she looks so pretty! But why is she hiding?"

Saku-hime was Keiichi's special pet name for his little cousin, no one but him had ever been allowed to use it, though others had tried. He reached out and stroked one finger down her thin arm causing the little girl to squirm and sit up, looking at him with wide curious eyes.

"Much better." He stated, voice approving "Now I can see you." He reached out again tapping her gently on the nose and pushed a few strands of curly hair that escaped her barrettes behind her ear.

The action caused Sakuno to giggle quietly and Sumire's heart soared, her granddaughter's laughter had been in very short supply recently and she had almost forgotten what it sounded like.

"How are you Keiichi, it's getting close to exams isn't it?"

Keiichi visibly flinched at the mention of exams and Sakuno's giggles, which had died down, resumed once more.

"I'm doing well, if you don't count the chronic back problems I'm developing from carrying my homework to and from school."

"That bad?" Sumire was torn between being sympathetic and amused, Keiichi usually didn't exaggerate but this was a bit far fetched.

Keiichi nodded solemnly and turned his attention back to Sakuno.

"Actually I was wondering if Saku-hime wanted to come backstage and say hello to everyone"

That's right, if she recalled correctly Keiichi played the piano, quite well too. He was probably going to be Kyou's accompanist for the recital, and he usually took Sakuno backstage anywhere he was going to be performing to keep her from getting bored. Sumire's attention returned to her grandchildren once she realized that they had stopped talking and were staring at her expectantly, and she realized that they had probably asked her if Sakuno could leave to explore with her cousin. Sumire smiled fondly.

"Go."

That was all it took. Sakuno smiled wide enough to make her dimples show and reached out her arms towards her cousin who grinned at his grandmother in way that almost made her rethink her decision to let them leave. But then her back reminded her none to kindly that she was rapidly approaching fifty-six and she allowed Keiichi to lift the little girl out her arms. There were only about ten minutes left until the performance started, any chaos they managed to cause in that time would be relatively minor and well worth the break that her back was getting. It was too late to stop them anyway; they had already managed to disappear into the crowd.

"They make quite a pair, don't they?" the voice came from her left and Sumire recognized it instantly as belonging to Keiichi's mother, Mamori.

Sumire turned slightly, and smiled at the newcomer. "Yes, they certainly do. That's the happiest I've seen Sakuno in months."

The younger woman nodded. "Keiichi has been worried about her, it's been all Azuma and I could do to keep him from packing his bags and moving in with you so he could keep an eye on her." Her voice was dry and slightly bitter, she had been good friends with Sakuno's mother for years and the two of them had always been Sumire's favorite daughter-in-laws. Mamori now held that position alone and Sumire knew that she felt Kanami's absence more keenly than anyone else at the party, excluding Sakuno and Sumire herself.

Sumire sighed, "I doubt his worries would have been relieved if he came, they might have gotten worse actually. Things haven't been going well, Sakuno is like a ghost. She doesn't talk unless she's forced, it's the same with eating, she barely sleeps." the old woman's voice trailed off. This was neither the time nor the place to be having this discussion, she could feel the eyes of most of the room on the two of them, trying and failing to listen discreetly.

Mamori's shoulders seemed to slump for just a moment at the news of her niece's condition before they straightened once more. "Losing a parent is difficult, especially for a child as young as Sakuno who probably only understood that she was never going to see her mother again but not why. To lose both at the same time. . ." Here her face tightened and Sumire could tell that the younger woman was about as pleased with Sakuno's father's actions as she was.

It was Sumire's turn to nod, "I know that. I do, really, but I just worry that if something doesn't change soon I'm going to lose Sakuno as well. That I'll wake up one morning and find that she's just faded away in the middle of the night. It's silly really." And it was, but knowing that didn't stop Sumire from getting up to check on the girl at least three times every night.

"Things will get better."

Sumire wasn't sure who Mamori was trying to convince.

**Prince of Tennis**

Sumire shifted slightly in the darkness of the auditorium, the recital had been going on for nearly an hour and she was beginning to nod off. Kyou had performed in the first ten minutes and had been the epitome of mediocrity. Since then there had been a few good players but they were far and few between, and as a whole the accompanists had managed to outshine the lot of them. Her eyelids had begun to close ominously and she shook her head and pinched her arm in an attempt to keep herself awake. She was extremely grateful that she had, had the foresight to book a room at the hotel, there was no way she would have been able to drive home like this.

Sumire turned to look at the seat beside her own. Keiichi had managed to return Sakuno in the nick of time and had taken off running immediately afterwards in a futile effort not to be late. She hadn't heard a peep from the little girl since the first participants took the stage. She was willing to bet that Sakuno was out like a light and for a moment she wished for the immunity to social faux pas that being five-years-old awarded a person. Thankfully this was the last performance and it was winding to a close, the violinist was taking her bows and walking off the stage to loud applause that Sumire thought probably had more to do with the fact that the ordeal was over than with the girl's rather half-hearted rendition of Ave Maria.

The lights had begun to turn back on and all around her people were stretching and beginning to stand up. She sighed and did the same; hopefully she would be able to find one of her older grandchildren who would be willing to carry their sleeping cousin up to the hotel room.

"I want to do that."

Sumire started, and turned to stare at her granddaughter. She wasn't asleep, as the old woman had thought; in fact she looked very much awake. She was facing away from her grandmother but Sumire could see that her large brown eyes were focused intently on the stage.

Sakuno turned her head sharply and looked Sumire straight in the eye. "I want to do that." she repeated and then as if sensing her grandmother's confusion she continued, "Play the piano. I want to learn to play the piano." Her voice was as quiet as it had been for the past two months and nineteen days but for the first time since then there was no trace of hesitation, not even a hint of a stutter. For the first time in what felt like years Sakuno looked completely, utterly certain and for a moment Sumire forgot how to breathe.

There could only be one answer.

"Okay."

Things would get better.

**Prince of Tennis**

AN: First chapter done! This one was a bit slow but I needed a way to introduce the situation, the rest will go faster, scouts honor. Also to anyone who was worried about the veritable horde of OCs, have no fear, they were only necessary for this chapter and for the rest of the story will be mentioned only in passing or the occasional flashback.

Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated but not required. I solemnly swear that I will not hold the story hostage as this drives me crazy when other authors do it. Guidance is appreciated however, because in this AU as in many others I have to walk the line between changing Sakuno's personality to fit the new situation without making her into a May Sue.

Next Chapter: Sakuno meets Tezuka at the his least favorite event of the year The Annual Christmas Party and the difference between tennis rackets and snowshoes is made apparent to everyone even though they do look the same.


	2. In which the important difference

**Disclaimer: Even ping-pong is beyond me; I know this because that's what my class is currently doing in P.E.**

**A/N: To answer some questions from the reviews:**

**1) More will be revealed about Sakuno's parents and her father in particular as the story progresses.**

**2) As far as pairings go this story is friendship/romance because the main character is twelve. It will touch on many pairings and, because I am notoriously indecisive, even I don't know who will win in the end.**

**I just recently noticed that my breaks in the last chapter were deleted so I went back and fixed it.**

_**"Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children"**_

_**- George Bernard Shaw**_

**Chapter 2: In which the important difference between tennis rackets and snowshoes is demonstrated and Tezuka attempts to avoid being match made by becoming a big brother. **

_**Prince of Tennis**_

Tezuka Kunimitsu loathed his mother's annual Christmas party with every fiber of his eight-year-old being that was not taken up with loathing her annual New Years Eve, Valentine's Day, White Day, Chinese New Year, and Halloween parties. Not to mention the various birthday, anniversary, congratulatory, and graduation parties that she threw for everyone she had ever known for more than six months.

Tezuka's mother was fond of parties.

Tezuka was not.

This year was even worse than usual as he had only recently gotten glasses and every female relative he had inevitably made an inane comment on how "scholarly and adorable" they made him look.

The worst however was yet to come. Tezuka could deal with excessive squealing and cooing, years of conditioning had made him immune to all but the most extreme cases of prolonged exposure, but what he could not deal with was being pinched. There were two main perpetrators of this indignity that were to be avoided at all costs.

The first, and most frequent, offender was his Aunt Sakura. Tezuka Sakura had long shiny black hair, long shiny red nails, and drove an expensive shiny car. She had very red lips and very white teeth and wore very tall pointy shoes.

Most people thought that Aunt Sakura looked like a movie star. Tezuka thought she looked like velociraptor.

The second, and more unpredictable and therefore more dangerous, of the two was Ryuuzaki Sumire who was an old friend of his grandparents'. She didn't do it as often as Aunt Sakura did, but for someone as old as she was, she was almost freakishly strong and was significantly harder to avoid.

Most of the time she wasn't so bad, she taught tennis so all in all she was one of the more sensible adults that came to the parties, and was always willing to give him pointers on how to improve various aspects of his game. But then suddenly out of nowhere in the middle of what had been, just seconds before, a perfectly normal conversation she would reach out and latch onto his cheeks. There was no pattern to these incidents; no rhyme or reason, no logical trigger, when Ryuuzaki Sumire was around Tezuka was forced to keep his guard up constantly.

Luckily for Tezuka, Aunt Sakura was in Greece with friends on holiday and would not be showing up. However Sumire-baachan, as she insisted on being called, would probably be arriving shortly and was bringing an unknown quantity with her, The Granddaughter. Apparently The Granddaughter was about his age, adorable, talented, and polite.

Such a long list of positive adjectives could only mean trouble.

All the other adorable, talented, polite girls who were about his age that his parents had foisted on him during various social events throughout his life had been, and he couldn't see why this one would be any different. Plus, something had happened to her parents recently that had led to her being sent to live with her grandmother which meant that he was practically morally obligated to be nice to her no matter what. 

Tezuka sighed and resisted the urge to tug on his tie, all loosening it would accomplish was getting it retied even tighter once someone noticed. Not that anyone would notice any time soon, his current position was a small indent in the wall near the stairs, partially blocked by one of the many large refreshment tables, allowing him a mostly unobstructed view of the room at large while he could only be seen from certain highly specific angles.

He had become an expert in not-quite-hiding at a young age, a survival skill it was necessary to acquire to insure his continued sanity despite being forced to socialize far more often than he would have chosen to if given the option.

This particular location was his favorite as it afforded him a perfect view of the front door, which meant that he could see who was arriving at the party, which in turn meant that he always knew when it was time to begin taking evasive action.

The bell rang and Tezuka started slightly then tensed, his fight or flight instinct primed for flight in preparation for the worst-case scenario. His mother, who had been speaking to guests near the kitchen, began moving towards the door and Tezuka closed his eyes and silently promised whatever deity that was listening that he would listen to all of his Uncle Hikaru's knock-knock jokes the next time he saw him without even a single mental complaint if the person who had rung the bell was anyone but Ryuuzaki Sumire.

"Sumire you made it!"

Tezuka's eyes snapped open and as he took in the scene in front of him, the formidable old woman standing in the doorway and the small girl held in her arms, her little hand hovering over the doorbell ready to press it again, two thoughts penetrated the haze of dismay and resignation that was clouding his mind:

The first was that he really needed to learn to be more specific in his pleas to higher beings as they apparently had a sense of humor.

The second was that he was no longer the cutest person at the party.

This thought brought on a surge of sympathy for the little girl strong enough to make him contemplate leaving his not-quite-hiding place to rescue her from what was to come.

He had contemplated to long however, and by the time he reached a conclusion his mother's ringing cry of "Sumire is this your granddaughter? She's gorgeous." had attracted the attention of the rest of his relatives; to go out now would not be brave. It would be stupid.

The group that had immediately formed around the latest arrivals following his mother's declaration had made its way into the living room, allowing Tezuka to catch momentary glimpses of how the little girl was coping with the sudden onslaught of attention.

She hadn't started to cry, which was good; Tezuka did not want to have to deal with snot. But she was acting shy, leaning back against her grandmother when someone got too loud or too close, and blushing. That was not good. Didn't she know that adults were like animals? They could smell fear. They thought it was adorable.

"Kunimitsu, please stop lurking behind the refreshments and come and say hello to our guests." Tezuka flinched. As much of expert as he was at not-quite-hiding his mother was expert at finding people who were not-quite-hiding. Much like his own skill it was one born of much practice, between Tezuka and his father she got enough of it to last several lifetimes.

Tezuka's father was about as fond of parties as Tezuka. But he was very fond of Tezuka's mother and not at all fond of being forced to sleep on the couch, so he tended to let her throw them when ever the urge took her. He was currently looking at his son with silent sympathy as the boy walked as slowly as was possible, without looking as if he was walking toward a guillotine.

The slow walk, however, was born of more than dread. Tezuka was using what limited time he had to try and figure out how to get out his latest predicament without ending up either engaged or grounded until he started university.

Situations like this one required a certain amount of delicacy, Tezuka knew this from experience. He had to be sure that he was nice enough that he wouldn't get in trouble but not so nice that his younger female relatives started having manga fueled delusions about first love.

The success of his actions also depended on several factors outside of his control, not the least of which was the cooperation of the girl in question.

That particular factor would be very important in this case as Tezuka had already observed that this one was going to be an uphill battle. She was by all accounts rather pretty, was the granddaughter of an old family friend, and now that her grandmother had put her down he could see that she was shorter than him.

Tezuka was one of the few boys his age that actually preferred that girls be taller than him. This was because he had observed that if the girl was taller than him people had an easier time remembering that he was eight and wasn't going to be getting married for a _very _long time and they also seemed to have a much harder time imagining a suitably romantic wedding ceremony.

By the time all of these facts had been processed he was standing next to his mother facing the person who, for the next few hours, was either going to become his coconspirator or his opposition.

"Kunimitsu this is Sumire-baachan's granddaughter Sakuno, Sakuno-chan this is my son Kunimitsu." His mother was smiling expectantly at him and seemed to resisting the urge to squeal.

"Hajimemashite." Being polite was his best bet for getting out of this experience unscathed. The little girl, Sakuno he reminded himself, tilted her head slightly to the left, an action that caused mass cooing among the adults, and replied in kind.

She had a soft sweet sounding voice and she seemed like a normal person. He was also relieved to note that the look in her eyes was simply curious and not the sort of hungry look that could be found in the gazes of his scarier female classmates.

However, things could not proceed so calmly for long and it didn't take much time before his mother brought up a topic that had already been the subject of much gushing that evening.

His glasses.

"Say Sakuno-chan what do you think of Kunimitsu's glasses?"

This was bad.

"His glasses?"

This was very bad.

"Yes, they're new. How do think he looks?"

The way Ryuuzaki Sakuno answered this next question could quite possibly shape his entire future.

Sakuno however, looked a bit confused so his mother elaborated.

"Kunimitsu is very self-conscious about his new glasses, no matter how often we tell him they look nice he just doesn't believe us. I'm sure it would help to hear it from someone his own age."

He wasn't and it wouldn't.

Sakuno let go of her grandmother's hand and took a step forward. She tilted her head again and Tezuka suddenly found himself under the full focus a pair of very large, very brown eyes and he fought the urge to fidget uncomfortably. Then as suddenly as she had begun she looked away, half turned back to where his mother and her grandmother were standing, waiting with baited breath to hear what she would say, and answered.

"He looks like Keiichi-oniichan." This was said very firmly and was accompanied by a decided nod that marked the statement as absolutely final.

If Tezuka had been paying attention he would have noticed Sumire's bemused explanation to his rather confused mother, who looked not a little disappointed. As it was however he rather busy admiring the tactical brilliance of the younger child's actions. With the use of that one word she had begun to lay the foundation for what he was now sure would be a fairly painless and, even better, strictly platonic relationship.

It was perfect. By making him into an older brother figure she had managed to quickly and politely dispatch many of his relatives' sillier romantic notions. In fact, it was very likely that many would find her answer so cute that they would probably cease to encourage her to view him romantically and start to attempt to foster a sibling relationship instead.

Tezuka had already begun thinking of all the ways to alter his former plans to accommodate this unforeseen, but undoubtedly useful, development when he was interrupted. His mother and Sumire-baachan had apparently finished discussing whom Sakuno had been referring to and were now gearing up for phase two. This time it was Sumire's turn to launch the attack.

She turned to face the two children and steered Sakuno so that she was standing very close to Tezuka. That done she looked slyly at the two and made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Well, you two are probably bored standing around talking to us old folks why don't you go and play in the living room and get better acquainted." Both children knew a dismissal when they heard one and as neither was particularly eager to stay they turned to leave before the adults could change their minds.

Tezuka, knowing that he was required to put on a good show, calmly asked the smaller girl if she was hungry. Thankfully she answered in the negative, the buffet tables were out in the open and there was very little cover, making them the perfect spot for the two of them to be assaulted by well meaning, but nosy, party guests.

Had he been alone he would have mingled for a few more minutes before heading back to his sentry post near the stairs. However this time he had a companion, one he was going to interacting with on a fairly regular basis knowing his mother, so he knew it would probably be for the best if several essential facts were established.

Tezuka resisted the urge to sigh. This was going require small talk. He hated small talk and as it looked like his companion was perfectly content to continue towards their destination in silence it was going to be up to him to initiate it.

He repressed another sigh and decided that if it was necessary then it would be best to get to the important matters first.

"Do you play tennis?"

Sakuno's head shot up from where she had been watching her shoes and she shook her head.

"No, I'm really clumsy. Baachan says that giving me a tennis racket would be like giving a blind person a driver's license." She smiled as she said this and Tezuka felt the corners of his own mouth turn up slightly in response. "I do like to watch though. Do you play tennis?"

This opening to discuss his favorite thing was enough to make Tezuka nearly verbose and by the time thirty minutes had passed Tezuka was convinced that she had enough sense to be trusted with the particulars of his plan to avoid engagement. He glanced around covertly, but the two of them had been talking long enough that the novelty of it had worn off and no one was paying very close attention to them. He turned his focus back to Sakuno who was looking at him curiously but, in an example of the good sense he was now even more convinced that she had, had not called any attention to his distraction.

He motioned for her to be quiet and to follow him and the two slipped from the room without anyone being the wiser. As they made their way through the house Tezuka turned back occasionally to make sure that Sakuno was keeping up and was pleased to see that she was. She was certainly different from the ones he usually got saddled with. By now most of them would have been insisting on going back to the party, afraid of getting in trouble.

Eventually they reached the back door and Tezuka looked around carefully one more time before opening it and slipping out. Sakuno followed with only minor hesitation and the two made their way across the dark cold lawn towards the guest cottage that was about fifty feet away from the main building and mostly hidden behind several trees.

It had started to snow lightly and by the time they reached the front door of the cottage both of them were cold and Tezuka was wishing that he had remembered to grab coats out of the hall closet. He quickly located the key that was kept hidden under the mat unlocked the door before ushering the girl following him inside.

Neither of his parents knew that he could even get into the cottage much less that he used it as a convenient place to hide when he wanted to escape from his mother's never ending zeal or when he wanted to plot a way to subvert one of her schemes.

The inside of the cottage was dark and chilly and Tezuka could feel Sakuno shiver slightly next to him. He reached down and felt along the base of the wall until his hand came in contact with the flashlight he always made sure to leave. He grabbed it and switched it on carefully keeping the beam pointed at the floor where it could not be seen through any of the windows. He motioned to Sakuno once more and continued on further into the small house.

Within moments the two made it to the cottage's small sitting room and Tezuka sat the flashlight up on the small rectangular coffee table no longer wary of its light alerting anyone at the party as to their location because there were no windows. He gestured towards the couch and Sakuno sat down and watched him walk to the small linen closet and pull out several blankets as well as a small electric space heater. The blankets he placed on the couch next to her and he plugged the space heater into the wall before crossing the room and rummaging through one of the drawers on the small entertainment center and pulling out several bags of chips. These he sat on the coffee table near the flashlight.

Preparations made her turned towards Sakuno, speech prepared, only to find her looking at him warily, as if he was some sort of dangerous creature that might bite her.

"What?" he snapped. That look was very aggravating and he was beginning to rethink his estimation of her sense.

"This," she said "is what my older cousin does when he invites his girlfriend to his house for a date." She wrinkled her nose as she said this before continuing; "You're not going to try and kiss me are you?" she looked very concerned.

"NO! And this isn't a date! It's a strategy session." Honestly what had she been thinking asking something like that?

"Oh. Well that's okay then." She resettled herself back on the couch and looked at him expectantly.

"It has come to my attention," Tezuka began, "that my kaasan and your obaachan want the two of us to get married."

"WHAT?" Sakuno looked about as happy as she sounded, "But I'm only _five _I can't get married. Is that even legal?"

"I don't think so, but that's not important. They don't want us to get married now they just want us to get engaged, which means that we would have to marry each other once we grew up." Tezuka explained.

For Sakuno this was troubling news indeed, how was she supposed to become a world famous concert pianist if her grandmother was doing things like this? "How are we going to stop them? We are going to stop them, right?"

"Of course we're going to stop them." Tezuka said confidently, "And this is how . . ."

And so he laid out the whole plan. How she would call him oniisan, how his relatives and hers would find it so endearing that they would encourage them to act like siblings, how eventually even the most diehard matchmakers would be forced to surrender in the face of such overwhelming opposition. They spent the next few minutes working out the finer details and by the end of the planning session both of them were completely confident in their ability to remain unengaged.

However neither of them was keen on going back to the party just yet so it was suggested, and quickly agreed to, that their time would be better spent watching a movie. He assured her that the party would last for at least another four or five hours and that no one would miss them. Twenty minutes into the movie both of them were asleep.

Outside it continued to snow.

**Prince of Tennis**

Sakuno woke up first and, after a few seconds of panic when she did not immediately recognize her surroundings, she remembered where she was and why she was there. The movie was over and, judging by the static on the television screen, had been over for a long time. Tezuka-niisan was asleep at the other end of the sofa, or at least she thought he was. All she could see was his hair sticking out of a huge cocoon of blankets.

Despite what Tezuka-niisan thought, she had meant it when she said that he looked like Keiichi-oniichan. Even their hair was the same except it was a slightly different color. Sakuno was glad for these similarities, Tezuka-niisan was nice but talking to him probably would have been much harder if he hadn't looked like one of her favorite people.

She understood that just because Tezuka-niisan looked like her favorite cousin didn't mean that he was anything like him personality wise but his appearance had made it easier to pretend that she knew him. People she knew were much easier to talk to than people she didn't. When she didn't know someone she could never be sure how they would react to things she said so she just didn't say as much. People she knew could still surprise her, she knew _that _better than almost anyone, and when it was a _bad_ surprise it hurt more than it would have had it come from a stranger. But mostly people she knew were just safer.

Sakuno blinked sleepily, she had no desire to get up, she was warm and comfortable but she was also just a little bit worried that the two of them had been away from the party for too long. Tezuka-niisan had said that they had four or five hours before anyone noticed that they were gone, and when he had said it that had sounded like a really long time, but now she wasn't so sure.

Truthfully Sakuno had no idea how long an hour actually was, mostly because it seemed to change. When she had to practice piano for an hour it wasn't very long at all but when she had to wait in the doctor's office for an hour it was practically forever and she wasn't sure which it would be this time. What she was sure of was that niisan would know.

She was going to have to wake him up.

The fact that her startled yelp of surprise at the floor's icy temperature as she got up to perform this task did not even make him twitch did not bode well for the success of this endeavor.

Sakuno knew from experience that waking a person up could be hazardous to one's health if proper caution was not taken. What 'proper caution' entailed varied from person to person. For several of her older cousins it required a distance of no less than ten feet and another person with you who could be used as a shield. She really hoped Tezuka-niisan was the second type of person, one like baachan, who jumped out of bed ready for action.

Judging from the dark muttering that her first poke elicited she doubted it.

Sakuno sighed, this was going to require creativity if she was going to be out of range once he woke up. She glanced around the living room and, seeing nothing of use in there, moved on to explore the rest of the cottage.

Lucky for him creativity was her specialty.

**Prince of Tennis**

Something was poking him. He growled to let whatever it was know that if it didn't stop it wasn't going to survive.

It didn't listen.

Drastic measures towards its removal would have to be taken.

He had fallen asleep holding the remote and it was about to serve a higher purpose in eliminating the threat to his sleep. He took a few moments to determine the general direction of the poke and threw the remote as hard as he could. It hit something solid and made a very satisfying crash and Tezuka settled back into his blankets secure in the knowledge that there would be no further interruptions.

Unfortunately for him there were.

The poking resumed.

That was not to be tolerated and Tezuka threw the covers off snarling and had taken almost three steps before the scene in front of him even began to register.

There was Sakuno, wearing a colander on her head like a helmet, crouching behind the overturned coffee table, clutching what looked like a broom handle in her hands, in a clearly defensive position. He stared at her for a moment before asking her what she was doing.

"Waking you up." This was said in a way that told him that she thought that what she was doing should be perfectly obvious.

Tezuka scowled fiercely. "Was all this really necessary?" he asked gesturing at her impromptu fort.

At this she stood up and, as Tezuka eyed the pillow she had strapped to her chest with a belt in an imitation of armor with no small degree of wariness, pointed at the remote he had thrown only a few moments before. It had broken into three pieces and there was a dent in the coffee table where it had impacted.

"Fair enough." He muttered, and turned to ask her why she felt it was necessary to wake him when he caught sight of the clock.

It was nearly midnight.

They were in _so_ much trouble.

He exploded into motion, attempting to undo the belt holing the pillow to Sakuno's torso while dragging the two of them towards the door, explaining to the bemused girl that they really needed to hurry unless she wanted to be grounded for the rest of her childhood. Miraculously, by the time they reached the door he had managed to rid her of both the pillow and the colander. They both managed to scramble into their shoes in record time and Tezuka had even dared to hope that they might make it back into the house unnoticed before that hope was crushed.

Crushed under the mini-avalanche that poured through the front door the moment he opened it.

Fate hated him. Fate hated him the equivalent of nearly two and a half feet of snow. He slammed the door shut and slumped back against the wall.

They were doomed.

"We are _not _doomed." He hadn't even realized that he had said that last bit out loud but apparently he had and Sakuno appeared to disagree.

"In what capacity," he asked acidly, "are we not doomed?"

She drew herself up to her full height, which in his opinion was not very impressive, and proclaimed that she had an idea. He proceeded to express his lack of faith in said idea with a snort. To which she replied that she had woken him up hadn't she, and that he hadn't even heard what she was planning so could he please keep his negativity to himself.

He resented being called negative. He was not being negative he was being realistic. There was nothing she could do unless she managed to fashion a toboggan out of the coffee table that she, only a few moments before, had been using as a fort.

Sakuno, correctly interpreting his silence as further disbelief in her abilities, gave an indignant huff before marching off into the back of the cottage. Over the next few minutes he heard what sounded like a short but intense search followed by silence and, thinking that she had realized the futility of her actions but was reluctant to admit it, he was about to go look for her when she sailed back into the hall arms full and looking very pleased with herself.

Once Tezuka got a closer look at what she was carrying in her arms he was anything _but _pleased with her.

"MY TENNIS RACKETS!"

"No," she said as if she were correcting a particularly slow child, "_our _snowshoes."

They were ruined. There was no way that they would ever be the same after what she had done to them. She appeared to have covered the strings with saran wrap held on by duct tape and Tezuka didn't even bother to suppress the groan that rose from his chest at the sight of them.

Sakuno plunked herself down on the floor and gave a long-suffering sigh. "Don't be so dramatic. Give me your foot."

After seeing what she had done to the rackets there was no way he was letting her near any of his body parts and he told her so.

"Weren't you the one saying something just a few minutes ago about being grounded for life if we didn't hurry?"

Tezuka took a moment to weigh his options before grudgingly holding out his foot. Sakuno nodded and looked pleased and gestured for him to put his foot down on one of the rackets. He did it with an internal moan. If he survived this all of his rackets were going to need restringing.

"Other foot." Sakuno commanded. He complied without looking.

"Done." She sounded pleased and he looked down at his feet to find that they had been duct taped to the racket.

He almost began to protest again but saw that Sakuno had already started on her own feet and knew that at this point resistance was probably futile.

"Ready?" she asked. He nodded; there was no turning back now. Sakuno returned the gesture solemnly and opened the door and the two began their journey back to the house.

Things had gone well for about thirty feet but then everything started to fall apart, literally. Saran wrap apparently did not hold up well under extreme conditions.

Tezuka's were the first to go, not surprising considering the respective sizes of the two individuals, and fighting to keep his balance he grabbed onto Sakuno. This sudden and unexpected weight combined with Sakuno's natural lack of balance lead to a few very tense seconds during which neither of them were sure if they would manage to stay upright. Eventually the two managed to regain their equilibrium but it had required a fair bit of hopping and flailing to accomplish. This resulted in the complete loss of not only Tezuka's left snowshoe but also that of Sakuno's right.

"This is bad." Sakuno said, starting to sound panicked, "This is very, very bad."

Tezuka agreed, they were stuck twenty feet from his house in the snow attempting to stay balanced on one leg each, but he had to calm Sakuno down before she managed to tip both of them over. "It's fine, someone will come looking for us soon."

"Fine?" she asked her voiced rising in pitch, "Fine? This is not fine. This is really, really far away from fine. What if we fall before they come looking for us? We would drown!"

"It's snow. You can't drown in snow." He was fairly, reasonably, almost sure that, that was completely impossible.

"Yes you can. It's water except frozen! What if gets up our noses and melts."

This sounded terrifyingly logical and Tezuka was on the verge of joining Sakuno in panic when he was abruptly given a whole new reason to.

"TEZUKA KUNIMITSU!"

He wondered if it was too late to pick the drowning option.

Staring at his mother's swiftly approaching form he decided that it probably was.

It was official.

They were doomed.

**Prince of Tennis**

Tezuka sighed, after his mother had discovered the two of them things had started moving pretty fast. The party had been wrapped up and all the guests, including Sakuno and her grandmother, had left and he had been sent up to his room to await a verdict on his punishment.

And through it all there had been yelling, lots and lots of yelling.

But besides that part it hadn't really been that bad. In fact some parts of it had actually been almost fun, which was more than he could say for most of the parties he had been forced to attend in the past.

Sakuno hadn't been half as bad as he was dreading and had actually been pretty decent company up until she had desecrated his tennis rackets. Being her fake honorary older brother had actually been a good distraction. He wondered if her grandmother would be bringing her back for the New Years Eve party.

He hoped so because if he had to pull Uncle Jin's finger one more time . . .

Well, let's just say that it wasn't going to be pretty.

**Prince of Tennis**

**A/N: W00t! Chapter two is finally done. Sorry for the long wait but I also write original stories and I was tied up with several of those. Also I wanted to put out a longer chapter than last time and I have actually succeeded, this one is about twice as long as chapter one.**

**As always reviews are appreciated and adored as is constructive criticism.**

**Next chapter: The good stuff. Sakuno enters middle school. Welcome to Rikkai. **


	3. In which Sakuno tours a school

**Disclaimer: If it were mine I'd be in serious trouble with my publisher for taking this long to update.**

**A/N: Let me start off with saying: PLEASE DON"T KILL ME! I know it's been forever since I updated this story but there are good reasons.**

**1. I dropped my old laptop and it died meaning I lost not only this chapter and the next two but that I also lost all the notes and plans for the rest of the story. This seriously bummed me out and it's taken me a while to recreate everything. I still feel like I'm forgetting something important. **

**2. I'm taking two writing intensive classes this year that take up a great deal of my writing time and energy.**

**3. I'm about 2/3 of the way through with my first original novel, which basically takes up the rest of the afore mentioned time and energy. **

**Hopefully the next chapter will come out faster but I make no promises. Now, with that out of the way lets get on with the show.**

_**If the whole world depends on today's youth, I can't see the world lasting another 100 years.**_

–_**Socrates **_

**Chapter 3: In which Sakuno tours a school, Sumire deliberates, and everyone comes to the realization that fangirls should never have swords, even if they are only ceremonial. **

Sakuno sighed, exhausted and rested her head lightly against the window of the car. She had spent the first part of the trip dozing but eventually her nerves had prevented her from getting any more rest. The past few weeks had been tiring. In only a few months she would no longer be an elementary school student and her impending graduation had brought with it a whole slew of problems. Not only did she have exams to worry about but she also had a horde of overbearing relatives who all had differing opinions on where she should be trying to get in. It seemed as if there were millions of little details all of which mattered a great deal and none of which she had ever considered when thinking about where she was going to attend.

Sakuno had always simply assumed that she would be going to Seigaku. It was a good school, she knew several nice people who were students and even more who were planning to apply, and her grandmother taught there. It should have been the obvious choice. Unfortunately for Sakuno life was rarely ever that simple and it hadn't decided to cut her any slack now.

Apparently Seigaku, while a good school, was not a great one and was certainly not good enough to educate a Ryuuzaki. Sakuno scoffed, she didn't understand why it was okay for her grandmother to teach there but it wasn't okay for her to be a student there. Even her grandmother had been against her. The whole thing smacked of the worst kind of double standard but in the end Sakuno had decided to pick her battles and had caved.

Her troubles did not end there, however. In fact, they actually seemed to multiply. Because now that she had lost her first choice for a middle school she actually had to pick a new one. This meant one thing: tours. In the past few weeks Sakuno had been on enough tours to make her head spin. Not only had she been drug around all of her older cousins' alma maters but also several other schools that her relatives had deemed appropriate.

All of the schools were the same, sprawling campuses, immaculate grounds, dizzying arrays of clubs and classes, and student bodies so _absolutely insane _that Sakuno was always more than a bit tempted to ask if they kept all the straight jackets with the P.E. equipment. Although, she thought with a sigh, if she was honest it wasn't like any of the people she knew at Seigaku were the dictionary definition of normal. But at least she knew them. Sakuno would take crazy people she knew over seemingly psychotic strangers any day.

And the fangirls! She knew that there was no escaping them and that it was unfair to think badly of a school for having them, they were everywhere, after all. Even Seigaku had what seem like more than its fair share. But at least there Mitsu-nii kept them under strict control instead of allowing them to run amok the way other places seemed to. She shivered slightly as she thought about some of the displays she'd seen over the past few weeks. Fangirls genuinely terrified Sakuno. Her friends and family teased her about it but it was the truth.

She sighed once more and looked down glumly at the stack of brochures resting in her lap. Today she was touring some school called Hyotei and judging from the way Mitsu-nii's eye kept twitching every time he heard the name it might actually be even weirder than the rest of them.

Sakuno wallowed in self-pity a moment longer before her natural optimism began regaining ground. Weird or not the landscaping and architecture shown in the pamphlets were really beautiful and the musical facilities looked fair as well, not nearly as good as those at the Institute of course, but nothing was really. Maybe she was just borrowing trouble being so worried about a silly eye twitch. After all, Mitsu-nii could be very uptight about certain things and she had never been as exacting as he was. She let a small smile make its way onto her face. She was probably just overreacting. The school couldn't be _too _bad, all the people she knew who went there seemed at least relatively normal. This new surge of optimism carried her until she saw the sign hanging like a shroud of doom by the gate of the school.

**All members of the official Atobe fanclub levels three through five must report to the second lower auditorium for an emergency meeting. No excuses. Absentees will be punished.**

Sakuno cringed.

She _hated _fangirls.

**Prince of Tennis**

Yamamoto Sana clutched her clipboard to her chest and stared out at the milling crowd of snobbish elementary school students gathered in the courtyard before her. She was tired, broke, and now she was stuck giving a tour. There wasn't enough coffee in the world to prepare her for today.

When she'd first been hired, fresh out of college and still thinking she'd do something great, getting a position as an assistant teacher at the infamous Hyotei Gakuen had seemed like a dream come true. Now, four years later, single, and stuck in a rut so large she didn't think she'd ever escape it seemed more like a nightmare. She was little more than a glorified secretary. She made copies and fetched coffee and sucked up in a way that would have disgusted her younger self. She wanted to quit but without any other job prospects she was too afraid. The long years of doing a job she hated had left her bitter and her smile brittle. And watching these kids, these spoiled, entitled kids who would never have to worry about paying their bills certainly didn't improve her already black mood.

She checked her watch and sighed. Five more minutes and she'd have to actually talk to the little brats. She was almost tempted to start early just so the whole ordeal could end sooner but she knew the chewing out she'd get if she left some wealthy latecomer behind would be nothing to laugh about.

Not thirty seconds later, just when she was about to start the tour, rules and latecomers be damned, a sleek looking hybrid car rolled through the gates and made its way slow expensive way up the drive towards the courtyard.

Sana quickly flipped through her clipboard trying to see who hadn't shown up yet. There was only one. A young girl named Ryuuzaki Sakuno. Twelve years old, fair grades, spoke fluent Italian. The only remarkable thing about the kid was that she was a student at a famous music school. Sana wracked her brain for information on the Ryuuzaki family. From what she could recall they were fairly high up on the social totem pole and were well known for their fair business practices and the kind way they treated their employees.

Her family was enough to make her an immediate mid-ranker on Hyotei's social ladder. Talent, both academic and otherwise, as well as looks and charisma were other considerations that would decide where she eventually fell. With the right attitude and the right friends the girl could do well here. There would certainly be enough families more than willing to make a connection to the wealthy, and rather infamous, Ryuuzaki family.

It disturbed Sana on a basic level that almost all of the friendships at Hyotei came down to business and every once in a while it occurred to her to feel sorry for the children caught in the middle of it all. The feeling always passed quickly however, due in no small part to the fact that the cold distance didn't seem to bother the students one bit. And why should it? It was how they'd been raised. By the time they got to Hyotei, Sana was convinced that most of them had long been stripped of all tender human emotions, leaving them as hard and chilly as the school's marble floors.

As the car drew closer Sana attempted to shake off her bitter thoughts and began to read the personality notes the girl's former teachers had left. As expected the notes went on at length about how sweet, helpful, and kind the girl was. Her classmates loved her. She was a joy to teach. Sana scoffed, wondering how much of it was true. It wasn't unusual for teachers to try to curry favor with powerful families by gushing over their spawn. As the youngest of the family head's seventeen grandchildren there was a good chance that the girl was spoiled out of her mind even if she wasn't deliberately malicious.

The car slowed to a stop in front of the sidewalk and Sana watched with mild interest as a rather handsome driver exited and moved to open the back passenger door. However, before he could get more than one step in the door's direction it popped open of it's own accord and a small girl stepped out, stumbling slightly as her feet hit the ground.

She was cute, Sana noted with studied detachment. Not beautiful, she was too young to be truly beautiful, but the potential was certainly there. Long auburn hair hung in a shining curtain to her thighs. Wide, dark brown eyes shone from pale unblemished skin and two deep dimples were revealed as she smiled in thanks as the driver steadied her after her stumble. The girl looked like a little doll. She could see the kid's eyelashes from where she was standing.

The Ryuuzaki girl straightened up and fiddled absently with the bow of the wide blue ribbon she was using as a headband. It looked slightly crumpled as if she'd dozed on it in the car. She brushed herself off causing the flowers embroidered on the skirt of her soft white sundress to flutter teasingly around her knees. She bowed slightly to the driver who nodded and smiled fondly at her before hopping back in the car and driving away.

The girl watched as the car drove away looking nervous and shy before she seemed to muster her courage enough to look around. She blushed slightly upon realizing how much attention her arrival had drawn, Sana was not the only one who had realized that the latecomer was cute, but she stood firm and didn't shy away again. Tiny white shoes tripped lightly across the courtyard towards the sign in tables where she collected her materials without any of the fuss Sana had come to expect of these children.

She watched shocked as several of the other children broke away from the crowd and went to greet her. It wasn't the fact that they went to speak to her that was shocking it was the _way _they did it. Warmly, happily, some of them were downright enthusiastic. One little girl who'd spent the entire morning up to that point glaring and looking down her nose at anyone who came within four feet of her actually hugged Ryuuzaki and attempted to fix her hair bow.

It was odd but Sana couldn't ponder on it for too long. It was time to start the tour.

She plastered the most genuine smile she could muster on her face, making her voice almost aggressively chipper. Welcome to hell.

"Hello everyone! My name is Yamamoto Sana. I'm an assistant teacher here at Hyotei Gakuen and I'll be directing your tour today. If you have any questions at any time please don't hesitate to ask. I'm here to help you, after all . . ."

**Prince of Tennis**

Oshitari Yuushi was an extremely bright individual. His grades were as close to perfect as was humanly possible, he was good at sports, and he played the violin. He spoke three languages fluently, read literature for fun, and had a thorough understanding of art and theatre. No one could say he wasn't talented and neither could any one say that he was patient with people who were less so, especially if those people had the nerve to try to tell him what to do.

The assistant music teacher, whose name he could never quite remember, was one such person. Bumbling, forgetful, and, quite frankly, not particularly bright, he was little more than a glorified errand boy whose sole purpose was to fetch Sakaki-sensei's coffee and worship the ground his betters walked on. Normally this didn't bother Oshitari terribly. It wasn't like he actually had to _speak_ to the man often. When he did it was usually only to give a short order.

Unfortunately, every dog has its day eventually, and today was seemed to be the assistant's. Sakaki-sensei was out helping one of the advanced music students with something and when a competent substitute could not be arranged control of the class had fallen to what's-his-name.

This too would have been perfectly fine if the man had simply assigned the class a reading or a worksheet. Hell, he even could have given them a free period like a normal sub. Instead, puffed up with misplaced self-importance he had decided that he was going to try to give a lecture.

It was an epic failure.

He stuttered and stumbled over his words, his handwriting was nearly illegible, and Yuushi was running out of fingers with which to count the number of flat out factual mistakes the man was making. It was, he decided, an utter disgrace. However, tensai or not, he was still a student and therefore was bound by politeness to listen to the idiot babble.

Just as he had settled in for the long haul, resigned to the fact that there was no escape, salvation arrived. The only warning they were given was three short knocks on the door before it burst open.

" . . . And this is only one of the many classrooms in Hyotei's music wing. Renown throughout the country for its state of the art conveniences and world class practice instruments it is one of the school's main attractions–" the voice of the woman giving the tour was brittle, her cheer obviously false.

"Ah, Yamamoto-san." The assistant perked up at the woman's entrance already dying for a larger audience and a new chance to show off, "What a pleasant surprise! You're doing the tour today aren't you? Why don't you bring your group in here? Let them observe the class for a while."

He was pathetically, puppy dog eager, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. The woman looked skeptical about the idea but after a few questions on the whereabouts of the actual teacher she consented, almost as eager to foist the kids on someone else as the assistant was to take them.

He turned to the elementary school kids and clapped his hands cheerfully. Yuushi felt himself die a little inside.

"My name is Hanazono Hikaru and I'm the assistant music teacher here at Hyotei! I'd like to welcome you all to Hyotei although I'm sure that Yamamoto-san has already made you felt right at home." The assistant paused in his monologue to stare soulfully at the apathetic woman standing in the corner. She ignored him. Yuushi could almost like her for that.

Discouraged Hanazono continued although his smiled dimmed several megawatts. "Do any of you play an instrument? Don't be shy raise your hands."

The entire group raised their hands as one and Yuushi fought back a snicker at the nonplussed expression on the assistant's face. Most families who could afford to send their children to Hyotei also insured that they could play an instrument at least passably well.

The assistant recovered quickly, however and launched once more into his cheery spiel. "Why don't we go around and introduce ourselves and tell everyone what instrument we play? I'll start. My name is Hanazono –"

A small, cynical looking girl in the front of the group interrupted. "You just told us your name five seconds ago."

Hanazono sputtered for a moment before laughing nervously and clearing his throat. "Y-yes. That I did. Well. I, ah, I don't play any instruments but–"

"What do you mean you can't play an instrument?" the same girl as before asked, her face twisted in a sneer. "What kind of music teacher are you?"

Red-faced, he brushed the comment off clumsily and had the tour group begin introducing themselves. Yuushi watched amused as the same little girl who had been hassling the assistant injected snide comments after almost every introduction. Only two people escaped her scathing litany. One was herself and other was a sweet-faced, shy little girl standing at the back of the group who had introduced herself as Ryuuzaki Sakuno and quietly informed the class that she played the piano.

"Sakuno-chan is really amazing. All her teacher's say that she's a prodigy and they're from the Institute so they would know," the tiny cynic chirped importantly.

Yuushi was grudgingly impressed. The Tokyo Musical Institute was an extremely elite music school that accepted only the best players. Students had to audition before a panel of teachers from the school to even be considered and children came from all over the world to try out. He had auditioned there himself but hadn't made the cut and the school was notorious for not accepting bribes so there had been nothing his father could do, although that hadn't stopped him from trying. Even the lowest level players there were said to be exceptional.

The assistant's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He spent a moment fawning over the now blushing girl before he began bragging about Otomiya Akira, a third year flautist who was a student at Hyotei and a relatively high level player at the Institute. Yuushi fought the urge to snort. Although he was willing to admit that the other boy _was_ technically brilliant his playing had no feeling in it. It was a dead, computerized sound that made him want to cover his ears and hum.

"Are the two of you on the same floor?" the assistant asked once he'd finally stopped bragging.

"N-not quite Hanazono-san."

"Ah, don't worry," he said patting her shoulder in a way that was obviously meant to be comforting but simply came off as patronizing. "I'm sure that if you work hard you'll catch up to your sempai someday. He'd say the same thing if he were in class today but unfortunately he's receiving private instruction from the music teacher right now."

Looking relieved that the strange man had moved away from her girl stepped back towards the group only to freeze as he let out an excited exclamation.

"Wait a moment! I just had a marvelous idea. The class is studying Beethoven today, wouldn't it be just perfect if they could listen to a live performance instead of a recording? You wouldn't mind, would you Ryuuzaki-san?"

She looked like she would mind very much indeed.

However, just as the girl opened her mouth presumably to refuse her loud friend cut in once more.

"Yeah! That would be perfect! It's been ages since I've heard you perform Sakuno-chan. Please do it," the pushy girl and the assistant put on identical pleading expressions that were backed up by the requests coming from several other children in the tour group.

"Poor kid," Yuushi heard Gakuto mutter from the seat next to his. "She looks more likely to hide under the piano than play it."

Yuushi agreed, but eventually the girl gave in to her peers' request and made her way over to the piano.

"Wonderful," the assistant trilled, giving his hands and excited clap, "I'll go get you the sheet music for Moonlight Sonata."

"It's alright," she said quietly, her face back to its normal color. "I don't need it."

She sat down gracefully, positioned her fingers on the keys, and began playing.

It was beautiful.

Technically perfect and so expressive that it seemed as if the whole world had narrowed to the feeling of hopeless, unending devotion that the song conveyed. He'd heard the story before, of course. That Beethoven had written it for a woman he was desperately in love with but could never have but he hadn't really understood what that would feel like until this moment. The sound ebbed and swelled, rising and falling and filling the room.

And then it was over.

Yuushi blinked slowly, trying to shake off the spell that had temporarily held him in its sway. All around him he could see others attempting to do the same with varying degrees of success. Atobe quickly regained his usual haughty expression but Gakuto still looked like he had when he'd gotten that concussion when he was first beginning to develop his Moonsault.

The last echoes of the song died and Yuushi watched as Ryuuzaki Sakuno opened her eyes and stood up slowly before silently making her way back to the where the other elementary school students were standing as if nothing had happened.

Then someone started clapping.

The last of the daze cleared away immediately as whole class erupted with praise. Ryuuzaki blushed hotly and made a valiant attempt to hide behind the pushy girl who seemed to be alternately attempting to squeeze the life out of her and push her towards the front where she could better receive the accolades that were pouring in. Eventually however, the commotion died down and the tour group managed to make its escape. Ryuuzaki in particular almost flying out the door in her haste to leave.

"She was so cute," Gakuto said sounding stunned. His face was a shade of red that could only mean trouble. "Did you see how cute she was Yuushi?"

"Yes. I did. And so did every other guy in this class."

"WHAT!"

Perhaps next year would be interesting after all.

**Prince of Tennis**

Sakuno was frazzled.

Her shoes pinched, her hair kept getting in her eyes, and now she was lost. She sighed heavily. Ever since she'd made the mistake of playing for that class a few hour ago the other students in her group refused to leave her alone. Yuya-chan had tried to keep them back but she was only one girl and some of them had been very determined.

Feeling overwhelmed and mildly aggravated she had started edging farther and father away from the rest of the crowd. Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever and no clue how it had happened Sakuno found herself completely alone.

That had been nearly thirty minutes ago and she was starting to get really worried. Hyotei was a very large school. She could get lost for days in a place like this if left to her own devices and that possibility was looking more and more likely as the minutes passed and no one came looking for her.

She wished Yuya-chan were here. Sakuno knew that her outgoing friend would have no problem screaming until someone came to look for her but that just wasn't an option for the quiet girl. First of all she'd bee too embarrassed and even if she wouldn't be she wasn't sure she could manage to generate the volume necessary to draw any attention.

The halls were quiet and the sound of her footsteps on the marble floors resonated from the blank walls and high ceiling. She shivered miserably and rubbed at her arms. This part of the building was a good ten degrees cooler than the rest of the school and it was making her regret wearing a sundress instead of something sensible like a sweater.

"Hey you! What are you doing in this quadrant? Don't you know it's off limits?" Sakuno jumped at the loud voice that had abruptly broken up the silence.

She turned around, her heart pounding and found herself face to face with three older girls who all looked supremely annoyed. She began mentally scolding herself for spacing out so much that she hadn't even heard them coming but a glance at what they were wearing revealed that all three were carrying swords of some sort and she decided that they were probably ninjas so she shouldn't feel too bad.

The thought of being alone in a deserted corridor with a group of annoyed female ninjas was a daunting one and Sakuno was rather intimidated. However, ninjas or not, they were wearing the Hyotei uniform and seemed to know where they were. For a moment Sakuno wavered between the impulse to run away and the need to catch up to the rest of the tour but eventually her desire to find her group won out and she decided to just bite the bullet and ask.

"A-ano, I-I'm here on tour but I got separated from my group. If you could please give me directions to the main office I'd be very grateful."

"Tour," the girl who appeared to be the leader said blankly. "You're here on tour?"

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as if Sakuno were something dangerous that she was prepared to harm. "You wouldn't happen to be Ryuuzaki Sakuno would you?" Her voice was low and threatening and Sakuno wished desperately that she had a different name or at the very least that she was any good at lying.

Not trusting herself to speak she gave a jerky, silent nod and winced as she heard the other two girls quickly suck in horrified gasps. It was apparently not a good time to be Ryuuzaki Sakuno and she wasn't looking forward to finding out why. As it was she had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach and she could only pray that she was wrong.

She went through her mental checklist. They had it all. The scandalously short skirts, the armbands, the expressions of fevered devotion that bordered on madness.

"YOU!" the girl on the left shrieked. "You are the hussy who is trying to attract our dearest Atobe-sama's attention although you are obviously unworthy of his greatness! Did you think you could get away with such shameless behavior?! Well let me tell you something . . ."

Sakuno cowered away from the screaming girl, making herself as small as possible. In a few minutes she would make a break for it but until then she'd just have to hope her eardrums wouldn't take any permanent damage.

She HATED fangirls.

**Prince of Tennis**

Atobe Keigo was not the sort of person who allowed anything to set him off balance. Usually this wasn't hard. People tended to be boring, they all reacted to him the same way with awe or worship or respect. They lived pathetic, predictable lives never varying from their set paths.

Occasionally however, someone came close to succeeding. Today the little Ryuuzaki girl had come closer to bowling him over than anyone had in years. While she didn't look like much at first she had a musical charisma that rivaled anything he'd ever heard and he had heard the best. He was willing to be that in a few years she'd be selling out concert stadiums.

But that didn't mean that he had any desire to hear his most annoying teammate gush about the girl for _two straight hours_. Losing one's composure in public was unforgivably undignified but in this case he was almost willing to make an exception.

" . . . nd she was _so_ cute! I hope she comes here next year. Don't you hope she comes here next year Yuushi?"

"It would be interesting."

Atobe wondered how the other boy could sound so calm in the face of such aggravation.

"She was really, really good too! Even Yuushi thought so, right?"

"She was."

Still calm. Atobe gritted his teeth.

"Amazing even! She could go pro don't you think?"

" She probably could."

Utterly unruffled. What was wrong with that guy? Atobe felt his eye twitch.

"And she was so cu–"

"SHUT UP YOU MORON!" Gakuto jumped and covered his ears. Atobe just smirked and closed his mouth from where he'd opened it to assign the acrobat laps. He should have known that he wouldn't be the first to break. Shishido had a much shorter fuse than he did.

He took long slow breaths and attempted to finish reigning his temper in while ignoring the two idiots arguing next to him. Eventually even they managed to settle down and the group fell into blessed silence. However it was not to last and after sulking for a few moments Gakuto started back up again. Thankfully this time Oshitari decided to step in and save his doubles partner's life.

"You know Gakuto, if you want to know more about Ryuuzaki-san you should probably ask Choutarou."

"That's right!" Gakuto leapt to his feet. "Choutarou's a student at the Institute as well. He probably even knows her personally. Maybe he can even introduce us!" By the time he finished speaking his arms were waving frantically and he'd started to pace. After spending a few moments trying to get him to calm down everyone just gave up and let him rant. A few moments later he stopped suddenly as if struck by a thought.

"Hey Yuushi, what did Hanazono mean when he asked Ryuuzaki-san what floor she was on?"

Oshitari looked up from where he was reading some American novel and adjusted his glasses. Atobe wasn't the sort of person that snorted because it was undignified but if he was he would have done so now. Oshitari didn't even need those glasses. He only wore them to make himself look smarter and he made a point of adjusting them whenever he was about to answer a question as a way to draw attention towards them. However, as much as he wanted to look away and ignore his teammate just to prove that such cheap tactics wouldn't work on him he was curious as to what the answer would be.

"It has to do with how students at the Institute are ranked. The building classes are held in has five floors. What floor you play on denotes how high your skill level is. The lowest level students are on fifth floor and the highest are on the first."

"That's an odd way to do things," Shishido said skeptically. "Wouldn't it make more sense to put similar instruments together?"

"Actually the reasoning behind the arrangement is rather interesting. Apparently when the Institute was first opened there were no elevators installed and the floors were organized in that way so that the higher-level players wouldn't have to carry their instruments as far up the stairs. Nowadays it's simply a tradition as well as a convenient way to show rank distinctions between the students." Oshitari settled back into his seat looking pleased with his chance to show off his superior knowledge.

"I bet Ryuuzaki-san is a first floor player," Gakuto said, his eyes far away and his voice dreamy.

Oshitari chuckled. "Her skill level certainly fits but her age makes it unlikely. Being a first floor player at the Institute is a huge accomplishment. There are only ever ten of them, never more although there have been less at times when no one was skilled enough to fill the places. Competition when a space becomes open can be downright brutal. Fifty years ago an altercation between two competitors actually ended with one of them dead."

For a moment everyone sat in silence. Competition was fierce in tennis but it certainly wasn't deadly.

"People really take it seriously then?" Shishido replied his voice a bit more subdued than usual. "It seems a bit much for position whose only advantage is not having to carry your instrument up some stairs."

Oshitari nodded solemnly "There's more to it than the stairs of course. First floor players have their own private practice rooms, access to top class instruments and instructors, and free run of the school. They can set their own practice schedules and they often act as instructors for the lower levels. In many cases they have the same amount of authority as a teacher. But more than any of that, being a first floor player means that you've been recognized as one of the best musicians under eighteen in the entire world. It's an extremely prestigious position and almost everyone who attains it goes on to be a huge force in the music world."

Shishido let out an impressed whistle.

Atobe remained silent, taking in the information he'd just heard. Ugly though the idea was it wasn't terribly surprising that people would kill for an achievement like that. They certainly killed for less often enough.

"Well," Gakuto said, "I still think Ryuuzaki-san might be a first floor player." His voice was weaker than usual but his chin was stuck out and he looked mulish. Atobe sighed and shook his head slightly. Annoying as his teammate might be he was nothing if not loyal.

Knowing that if left to his own devices Gakuto would be bouncing and babbling again within moments Atobe stood and stretched.

"Ore-sama is tired of this conversation now and wishes to find Choutarou as he seems to be the only one who currently has the power to stop Gakuto's prattling, na Kabaji?" Atobe glanced to his left and saw that Kabaji was already standing as well.

"Usu." Kabaji nodded sharply.

The others grumbled but they stood up quickly enough and the group set off in search of the tall first year with very little fuss considering who it consisted of. Fortunately it didn't take them long to find Choutarou and when they did Atobe was mildly amused to see who he was talking to while Gakuto seemed only able to squawk indignantly.

"Ore-sama believes that this answers your question as to whether our kohai knows your new idol."

At that Gakuto seem to regain his powers of speech. "What are they doing so close together? He's totally violating her personal space! Isn't he supposed to be a gentleman or something?" Gakuto whispered, outraged at the sight of the other boy walking close to the girl he admired.

"They aren't that close together moron," Shishido said snidely. "And they aren't even holding hands. It's not like they're kissing or something."

Atobe watched as Gakuto turned bright red and sputtered incoherently for a moment, the thought of the couple walking in front of them kissing apparently too much for his relatively small brain to handle. When he did regain his voice it was at full volume.

"Shut up you long-haired, girly idiot!"

Shishido of course, being a moron, couldn't take the high road and let the slur pass uncontested.

"Don't tell me shut up you imbecile! All that jumping up and down has obviously scrambled your brain!"

"I'll tell you whatever I want to asshole!"

The two were nose to nose and looked ready to begin throwing punches. Atobe felt his eye start twitching again. Thankfully they were interrupted before the altercation could become physical.

"They're about to look over here you know," Oshitari stated calmly.

The arguing boys both swore loudly and dove for a nearby clump of bushes dragging their quieter companions with them. By the time Choutarou and his companion turned to look in their direction all of them were safely concealed. Eventually the boy and girl standing on the path gave up on finding the cause of the disruption and turned back to each other. Conveniently, the bushes were close enough to where the two were standing that it was easy to hear what they were saying to each other and with a bit of adjusting Atobe discovered he could see them as well.

"Probably just squirrels," Choutarou said, his voice casual.

"Or ninja fangirls," the girl replied. Her voice was dark and she sounded very aggravated indeed. She looked significantly more ruffled than she had earlier. Atobe wondered what had happened to put her in such a state.

"They aren't that bad Sakuno-chan." Choutarou sounded both amused and tired.

Atobe felt Gakuto stiffen at the use of such a familiar honorific and he allowed himself to feel a momentary a stab of pity for the younger boy. The acrobat would be even more insufferable than usual unless the first year could produce a very good reason for such closeness.

"You aren't the one who got accosted by them and had to listen to them screech for a full half hour. I don't even know who that guy they were yelling about is," she wailed softly.

Choutarou chuckled softly and patted her on the head prompting a dark scowl from both the girl herself and her admirer situated in the bushes. "I'll introduce the two of you someday. He's a real character."

"This is serious Choutarou-kun," she huffed. "They had _swords. _Swords! I though they were going to chop me into little bits and throw me into the furnace!"

Atobe got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. She could be talking about the fencing club but still . . .

"The swords are purely ceremonial," Choutarou said in a voice that was obviously meant to be reassuring but only managed to make it to amused. "And we don't even have a furnace."

"That's even worse," she said reproachfully crossing her arms. "Just what kind of ceremonies are they doing that they need swords for?"

All amusement abruptly fled Choutarou's face at just about the same time that Atobe's stomach reached his expensive Italian leather shoes.

"I-I've never though about it like that," Choutarou stuttered, shivering slightly.

The girl looked both pleased with the admission and slightly nauseous and the bevy of unpleasant ideas her statement brought to mind. Atobe sympathized. He was _really _going to have to keep a closer watch on his fan club.

Before the conversation could continue a car pulled up at the end of the walk and the girl instantly perked up.

"That's my ride. I'll see you tomorrow okay?" She gave a small wave and ran lightly towards the waiting vehicle, only stumbling once on her way.

Choutarou stood watching the car until it moved out of sight and the boy in the bushes did the same.

"You guys can come out of the bushes now." Choutarou, still looking rather paler than normal was looking straight at the bushes they were concealed in.

Atobe stood up with as much dignity as he could muster. And while it certainly wasn't his usual amount it was still a rather respectable endeavor. His teammates didn't fair so well and most of them had the good grace to look sheepish.

"You knew we were there the whole time?" Gakuto huffed incredulously.

Choutarou nodded. "I just didn't want to freak Sakuno-chan out anymore than she already was by calling attention to it."

Reminded of his purpose in looking for the doubles player in the first place Gakuto's demeanor went from incredulous to indignant in the blink of an eye.

"What's with that familiar title! How do you and Ryuuzaki-san know each other anyway?" Atobe watched amused as Gakuto got right up in the younger boy's face.

Looking more than a bit nonplussed Choutarou replied, "We're duet partner's at the Institute. We have been for almost a year so we've become pretty good friends. Is something wrong Mukahi-sempai?"

"So she's on the same level as you, right Ootori. They wouldn't have put the two of you together if she was a lot better." Shishido shot a smug look in Gakuto's direction as he spoke, obviously wanting to lord it over the other boy that he had been wrong.

"Um, actually Shishido-sempai I'm only a second floor player. Sakuno-chan is first floor player. She's the youngest one there's ever been. I'm really lucky to be able to work with her."

The silence was immediate.

"I TOLD YOU!"

"SHUT UP IDIOT!"

Atobe's eye twitched.

**Prince of Tennis**

Ryuuzaki Sumire sighed and looked down at the letter sitting on her desk. It was a good offer.

She was getting on in years and her doctor was now strongly recommending that she slow down a bit. She loved her job at Seigaku but it was very physically demanding and there was no way to make it less so without being unfair to her students. The position Rikkai was offering her was a much less stressful one and it would still allow her to be around the sport she loved.

It was a tough decision. On one hand she had been working at Seigaku for years. She'd helped turn generations of kids into amazing players and it would be hard to change her loyalties now. On the other hand she had her health to think about. If something happened to her Sakuno would have to find a new home, possibly very far away, where she would very likely be bullied by their well-meaning but pushy family members.

In the end it was the thought of her youngest grandchild that made her decision for her.

She would accept.

**OMAKE**

Sakuno sighed. This place was larger than the last three schools she'd visited combined. In the past hour she'd seen four libraries, six swimming pool, three gyms, one indoor safari, and countless pieces of priceless art. And that was in the middle school section alone. The high school department was supposedly even more impressive. Ouran was undoubtedly high-class.

Unfortunately, she'd once again managed to get lost. She wasn't even sure she was in the right department anymore she could be in the affiliated university for all she knew. This place was like a hideously expensive maze.

At least she'd remembered to wear comfortable shoes.

The hallway she was currently walking was well lit and clean but appeared to be otherwise unused. Just when she was about to give up and turn around she saw a door farther along that, according to the sign above it, led to the third music room. What really caught her attention about it however, was not the prospect of instruments, although she was willing to admit that that _was_ a draw, but the light shining under the door.

Light meant people, people meant directions, directions meant _not being lost anymore_! Normally the thought of finding her way again would be enough to encourage Sakuno to muster her courage and talk to strangers however after her recent experiences at a similarly high class educational establishment she was feeling rather more wary than usual. After hovering outside the door for a few minutes she finally managed to convince herself that nothing could be more terrifying than the ninja fangirls and she knocked apprehensively. There was no answer. Feeling even more nervous raised her hand to knock again and opened her mouth to call out.

However, before she could the door creaked open seemingly of its own accord and instead of directions Sakuno found herself with a mouth full of rose petals. She blinked in shock, staring at the equally shocked but undeniably handsome group of boys standing in the center of the room.

As laughter, wailing, and cries of tono began to ring out Sakuno mused on the fact that one should never underestimate the madness that humanity, especially wealthy humanity, was capable of.

**A/N: Well here it is the long and patiently awaited third chapter of Butterfly Effect. I know I said last chapter that this one would have Rikkai in it but Hyotei sort of took over my brain and their part just kept growing. I promise Rikkai will show up next chapter. **

**Next Chapter: Sumire meets the Rikkai regulars, Tezuka has another reason to assign his team laps, and Sakuno has her first day of middle school. **

** On another note I'm looking for an experienced beta who can not only edit what I've written but who will also bully me into writing more when I'm slacking. Slave drivers wanted.**

**I hope everyone enjoyed the omake I threw in at the end. I should have just started working on the next chapter but I couldn't resist. As always reviews and constructive criticism are both appreciated and adored. : ) **


	4. In which several phone calls are made

**Disclaimer: Possession is 9/10****th****s of the law, especially when it comes to PoT. I don't own it so don't sue me. **

**A/N: I've recently found that reading cool stories makes me want to write cool stories. If any other writers on this site have found out the same thing drop me a PM and we'll establish a mutual support society or something. : ) Hopefully this will ensure that I don't take any more year long hiatuses. **

**Oh, and also? This chapter is complete crack from start to finish. The logical should beware. Just thought I'd warn you. **

**Thanks go out to my beta berrynut whose gentle poking via email is probably responsible for this getting out as soon as it did. Everyone who waited for this should thank her profusely. **

_**I like children. If they're properly cooked.**_

_**~W.C Fields**_

**Chapter 4: In which a several phone calls are made, Sakuno realizes that **_**all**_** tennis players are crazy, and Sumire tests the theory that the way to a tennis team's heart is through its stomach to great success.**

Ryuuzaki Sumire had experience with children. She'd raised five sons, had close relationships with all seventeen of her grandchildren, and was currently busy babying her six great-grandchildren. She'd been a teacher and coach for going on forty-six years. Children were no mystery. After all these years she tended to know how they would react even before they did, which was exactly why she wasn't looking forward to this next meeting.

With the misfortune that had recently befallen their captain tension was bound to be running high in the Rikkai tennis club. She'd come in contact with this team before and from what she had seen they were both extremely tight knit and very, very loyal to their captain. Add in a new authority figure who they would likely regard as an outsider and she had a simmering pot of resentment and male pride that would be ready blow like a powder keg at any moment.

Oh, she doubted that they would be outright rude. She had worked with their fukubuchou at various invitational camps enough times to know that he was unlikely to tolerate any obvious insubordination. It wasn't like she'd ever had trouble disciplining any of her charges when they stepped out of line, either. She was no pushover.

However, she _had _been hired as a mental coach and to be able to do her job to her full potential a certain level of trust was needed between the coach and the players. If things started off smoothly it would make her job much easier as time went by. So while she wasn't nervous by any stretch of the imagination she _was_ wary.

At least the office was nice. Situated comfortably on the second floor, it was larger than her old one at Seigaku by half and the wall of windows to her right allowed her to observe what was occurring on the tennis courts below from any point in the room. It was also conveniently close to the classrooms she would be visiting during the day. All in all, she decided, a nice, comfortable setup and she began unpacking with little regret.

She had about an hour before she was due to meet up with the regulars. Despite the fact that it was a holiday and the school was all but empty, apart from the students who had landed themselves in make up classes and the teachers unfortunate enough to be stuck supervising them, the tennis team had been coming in to practice almost every day just as they would have if school had been in session. And with only a few days left before the new school year began Sumire had decided that it was high time that she met the students she would be focusing the majority of her energy on.

Whatever those kids could dish out she could take and give back double.

She smirked evilly at her office supplies and chuckled in a mildly disturbing manner.

Bring. It. On.

**Prince of Tennis**

It was, Marui Bunta decided, way too freaking early for this. This fact didn't deter Sanada, of course, but then very little ever did. Damn morning people.

He rubbed discreetly at his eyes and made a valiant attempt to focus on what Sanada was lecturing about on the off chance that it was more important than pondering how utterly unjust it was to have to be awake at this hour and not even get any cake in return.

"I want you all to be polite. Ryuuzaki Sumire is a noted expert on mental game. We could all benefit from listening to her." Sanada's voice was flat and he was leveling his Stern Gaze at the gathered players, lingering especially on Niou and Akaya.

Marui fought the urge to snort and mentally subtracted two points from Sanada in his mental tally for being generally obtuse. Like that would convince those two to behave. Niou was never polite except when he was pretending to be Yagyuu and even then you could bet that he was scheming against you and calling you strange names in his head. And Akaya was, well, not at his best at the moment.

None of them were really, what with Yukimura-buchou being hospitalized. But Akaya wasn't exactly well adjusted at the best of times and the extra stress had him acting like rubber band about to snap, adding a new authority figure to the mix when he was already smarting over his idol's absence was just asking for meltdown. Marui just hoped that fallout wouldn't be serious enough to land the little brat in any real trouble. Pain in the ass though the kid could be, he was actually rather fond of the little monster.

He flicked a quick glance at the object of his musings and failed to suppress a wince. Akaya was getting sulkier by the minute and Sanada's continued admonishments weren't helping at all. He watched warily as Akaya's already impressive pout dropped another millimeter and he subtracted another three points from Sanada for the combined crimes of having no survival instincts and for his inability to read the emotional undercurrents of a situation. No one could deny that the guy was a brilliant tennis player but neither could anyone deny that he lacked several highly useful social skills. No was perfect, he supposed.

Except, of course, for Yukimura-buchou. But then everyone not completely brain dead knew that trying to apply humanity's usual limitations to Yukimura Seiichi was just plain silly.

Duh.

But seriously, somebody needed to save their fukubuchou from himself before Akaya went Chernobyl and started like, biting people or something. Normally he'd at least try but his mother was concerned about his sugar intake and she'd thrown away his entire stash over the weekend. He barely had enough motivation to breathe much less perform daring rescues.

God he needed cake.

Thankfully Yanagi had the same idea and managed to intervene right as Akaya opened his mouth to say something that would very likely have gotten him slapped.

"Genichiroh, I'm sure the team understands that any misbehavior will have consequences." Sanada did not look reassured but Yanagi continued before he could protest. "Besides, it's almost time to go meet with Ryuuzaki-sensei. After all this talk of politeness it wouldn't do to be late."

There was no arguing with that so Marui hauled himself up off the bench he was seated on and prepared to make the trek up to the second floor. They reached their destination without fuss. It felt like the calm before a storm.

Sanada knocked firmly on the closed office door and moments later a female voice called out permission to enter. The elderly woman situated behind the desk managed to look imposing despite being dressed in a pink tracksuit. Marui had never met Ryuuzaki Sumire before but he knew that Sanada, Yanagi, and Yukimura had all worked with her at least once and that all three had come away with a favorable impression. In his mind that was all the endorsement anyone needed. He was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. The rest was up to her.

She was speaking to someone on her cell phone and waved them in absentmindedly. He was ready to subtract points for inattention but he stopped once he actually started listening to what she was saying.

"Sakuno stop quibbling and give me a straight answer. Has anything been broken since I left the house this morning?" Her voice was very stern but she looked like she was trying hard not to laugh as she paused to wait for an answer. "Nothing _important_? Elaborate. Now."

She was beginning to look moderately worried. Obviously she and the person she was conversing with had very different ideas of what was and what was not important. This had the potential to be both amusing and informative. How well a teacher handled chaos and destruction tended to indicate how well said teacher was going to along with the tennis club.

"_That_ lamp? The lamp you've hated since your uncle bought it for me for Mother's Day six years ago?" She paused looking incredulous. "What do you mean you didn't hate it? You've been trying to convince me to get rid of it for years. You thought it was hideous. Yes dear, I know it's not nice to speak ill of the dead but I'm still in the dark about how the lamp met its unfortunate demise in the first place."

Marui, fought the urge to snicker and he could see Niou from the corner of his eye doing the same. This whole conversation reeked of trick in progress.

"Geese! What do you mean geese? There are geese in the house?"

Marui lifted a hand to cover the grin growing on his face. Even Akaya had managed to throw off his mutinous attitude enough to listen.

"They snuck in while you were getting the mail." Ryuuzaki-sensei's voice had gone flat and disbelieving. "Ninja geese? Yes, I'm sure they _were_ very sneaky. I didn't realize that the wildlife in Kanagawa was so much livelier than it was in Tokyo. At least you've caught them all. Have you called animal control yet? Good. I have to go. We'll talk late–"

Before Marui could even feel disappointed that the rather amusing conversation had drawn to a close the old woman suddenly jerked as if startled.

"What was that? Don't you 'nothing' me Ryuuzaki Sakuno I've lived with you long enough to recognize the sound of something breaking from a mile away." She paused once more before launching back into lecture mode, "Let me guess. You _didn't_ catch all of the geese. Of course not, that would be far too easy. I'm going to take another shot in the dark and guess that it broke that vase you kept trying to bribe the movers into 'losing'. I'm right? Shocking."

Okay, even Sanada was smirking now. Whoever was on the other end of that phone call got major points, twenty-five at _least,_ for dispelling the tension that had been suffocating the team all morning.

"Is that the last one? That's good. I really have to go now. Try not to destroy the house before I get home, it's new and I'd like it to remain in one piece for a little while at least. Mmm-hmm. I love you too." Their new coach hung up the phone and huffed a small amused laughed before she shook her head and looked up.

"I apologize for making you wait but as you could probably tell there was a bit of a situation at home." She looked rueful as she beckoned them further into the room.

Marui grinned as he took a seat. "Geese sensei?"

She chuckled again and shook her head. "That girl. Two days ago it was feral cats that snuck in the window she _accidentally_ left open. They managed to completely destroy the collection of porcelain clowns that one of her aunts insists on adding to every holiday."

"Your granddaughter?" Yanagi asked.

Ryuuzaki-sensei smiled softly and nodded before answering, "My youngest. She'll be starting here as a first year in a few days and she seems to be using the move as an excuse to get rid of any elements of décor she finds distasteful. Not that I can actually prove it. _She_ hasn't broken anything. Half the time she isn't even in the house when it occurs. I've been letting her spend far too much time with her cousin the lawyer. Plausible deniability has become her new favorite phrase. At this point I'm just hoping that she doesn't take exception to the placement of any of the walls."

Marui was kind of hoping she _was_. Getting rid of walls would probably require elephants, or wild boars at the least. Now _that _would be funny. He thought about wondering where she got the animals but decided to apply the unspoken Never Ask Rule that was one of the staples of staying passably sane while in the tennis club. Sometimes it really was best not to know.

The Rule aside it seemed like interacting with both Ryuuzaki-sensei and her granddaughter would be relatively painless. Any girl who could use live geese as a decorative aid and any teacher who could treat it as an everyday occurrence couldn't be bad in his book.

"Before we start the introductions," the old woman said, "Would anyone like some cake? Sakuno made it last night."

Oh yeah. They were going to get along _great._

**Prince of Tennis**

Yanagi Renji observed his teammates. The atmosphere on the courts was much better than it was yesterday. Akaya was still a bit sulky but for the most part the rest of the team was now open to giving their new mental coach a chance. Personally, Yanagi had been looking forward to working with her since he heard that she'd accepted the position. Genichiroh hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said that Ryuuzaki Sumire was an expert.

While the physical aspect of Seigaku's game had gone down in level in recent years their mental game was still the best in Japan. Players from Seigaku were notorious for being difficult to rattle. Yanagi had lost count of the number of times he'd seen a Seigaku regular make a comeback from a seemingly impossible position. They were known for being good sports as well and their morale seemed to be as difficult to disrupt as their concentration. Losses only served to make them more determined.

All of these were areas in which he knew there was a great deal of room for improvement at Rikkai. Their physical game was the best in the business but several of his teammates fostered highly unhealthy mental attitudes and Yanagi was well aware that he too could learn to handle disruptions in the usual status quo with a bit more grace. Their team's Always Win philosophy didn't leave much room for any of them to learn how to deal with losses.

Thankfully it seemed as if yesterday had convinced most of the others that it would be to their benefit to listen as well. Genichiroh had been on board from the start, just as he had and he'd been certain that Jackal, Yagyuu, and Marui would at least go into the meeting neutral. Akaya and Niou had been his greatest concerns. Neither was entirely convinced, even now, but they were at least on their way.

It had been the cake that had done it. The phone call had been enough to break the tension but it was the cake that had kept it from returning. Ryuuzaki-sensei was obviously well used to dealing with the moods of teenage boys.

When in doubt, bring food.

It was a solid, time-honored, tried and true method and it hadn't failed her.

It had been very good cake. A tangy, citrus confection with light, crisp icing that melted in your mouth. He could practically _see_ Marui adding points to the mental tally that he thought no one knew about after taking his first bite. Yanagi had, had seconds himself and he generally didn't enjoy sweets.

They would all be speaking with the new coach again today but this time instead of visiting in a group they would all go up to speak with her one on one. Genichiroh and Marui had already been and Jackal was having his meeting right now. He was next and he was rather interested in seeing exactly how Ryuuzaki-sensei planned to interact with the team.

Faculty involvement in the sports clubs at Rikkai had always been very hands off. In most cases almost all of the important decisions about management and training were left up to the buchou and the fukubuchou with the advisor simply there to sign the papers. He was well aware that other schools, Seigaku included, were far more hands on when it came to supervision.

However, according to his research, one of the reasons that Ryuuzaki-sensei had accepted the position at Rikkai in the first place was because her age and health no longer allowed her to safely manage such a rigorous schedule. He was 95.4 % certain that they could count on her to leave the physical training in the hands of the students, though there was a 98 % chance that she might add suggestions here and there. All in all he felt that the relationship would be mutually beneficial.

He looked out at the courts once more. Marui's accuracy could stand to be improved and he made a mental note to schedule him for practice with the ball machines in the near future. He would have to dig the targets out of storage.

He caught a flash of movement in his peripheral vision and turned to look just in time to see Jackal exiting the school building. He turned to his right and silently signaled to Genichiroh the he was going, receiving a nod in return. Correctly interpreting this as permission Yanagi quickly made his way into the building and up to the coach's office.

He raised his hand to knock but paused as he heard voices coming from within. He could do the polite thing and knock to alert them of his presence or he could put his preternaturally good hearing to good use and take the opportunity to gather data on his new coach while she was unaware anyone was listening.

He chose the latter.

Data was valuable after all. And data from a subject that didn't realize they were being observed was even more so. People behaved more honestly when they thought that no one was looking.

"You didn't send anyone to the hospital this time did you?" That was Ryuuzaki-sensei. Judging by her tone and inflection he hypothesized that she was speaking to her granddaughter again. He could hear someone moving inside the office and since he would have seen anyone who entered the building he felt that it was safe to assume that she was using her office's speakerphone.

"That only happened once." The girl sounded mildly sulky like Akaya when someone refused to play a match with him or Marui when he hadn't had enough sleep or sugar. "With all those finely honed tennis reflexes he should have been able to dodge an alarm clock. Besides, that was their fault anyway. I thought they were ninjas."

The girl seemed to have a mild fixation on ninjas. This was the second time in as many conversations that he'd heard her mention them.

"You and your ninjas," Ryuuzaki-sensei said, her voice amused. "I don't know where you get these ideas."

"It was five in the morning and they were all wearing ski-masks! It was a reasonable assumption." She sounded rather defensive. "And no, no one ended up in the hospital."

"So what _have_ you all been up to?"

"First we went to the movies but Eiji-san was bouncing around the way he always does and he accidentally knocked over the popcorn machine so we got kicked out." She spoke evenly as if she weren't saying anything particularly interesting.

"Oh dear." The old woman sounded more amused than concerned.

"Then we went to the park but Inui-san was scaring the children and making the parents nervous so we had to leave." Yanagi smirked upon hearing that. Classic Sadaharu. He really had no subtlety. It was good to know that some things never changed.

"Gathering data?" Ryuuzaki-sensei queried, although it was obvious from her voice that she both knew the answer and found it funny.

"Un. _Then_ we went to that new make-your-own pottery studio–"

"I'm sure that didn't end well."

"Of course not, Momo-kun and Kaidoh-san were there. Somehow their usual verbal arguments erupted into an all out clay _war_." The girl was finally beginning to sound frustrated. He honestly couldn't blame her.

Ryuuzaki sensei heaved a sigh and when she spoke her voice rang with exasperated fondness, "Those two. Which one started it?"

"They both swear that they didn't. Personally I'm inclined to believe them. Shusuke-san was wearing his Particularly Scary Smile." Yanagi's smirk widened. He'd spent enough time at Rikkai to recognize capital letters when he heard them. This girl was going to blend right in.

"I see."

There was a short pause during which he assumed Ryuuzaki-sensei was processing the sheer amount of chaos that could fit into one morning. He did the same. By this point he was 99.7 percent certain that the individuals being referred to were the Seigaku regulars. It didn't sound as if Tezuka was with them, however. He doubted that the stoic captain would have allowed his subordinates to behave in such an undignified manner if he were present.

"We're at the mall now," Ryuuzaki Sakuno continued. "I think that earlier they were attempting to show me how much fun I'd be missing out on by going to Rikkai, but now they've simply resorted to bribing me with material gifts." She was back to speaking calmly, as if having a group of boys take her out on the town and shower her with attention and presents was nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps for her it wasn't.

"And how is that working out?"

"Inui-san is standing in the corner scribbling in his notebook and rattling off percentages. Shusuke-san is distracting the female shop assistants. Momo-kun and Kaidoh-san are fighting about plushies while Oishi-san is trying to intervene and Eiji-san is egging them on."

"Business as usual then?" Her voice was amused but then she paused as the entirety of the previous statement caught up in her brain. "Wait. Fighting about _plushies_?"

"Un. Apparently Momo-kun should buy the monkey because he looks like one and Kaidoh-san should buy the unicorn because he's a _wuss_. It's already degenerated into scuffling. The displays around them are in mortal peril."

"You," Ryuuzaki-sensei said, "Sound suspiciously calm about this whole escapade."

Yanagi agreed. Either Ryuuzaki-san was an abnormally calm girl or she knew something they didn't.

"I was woken up at an unholy hour, dragged out of the house, I smell like I've bathed in popcorn, the clay is never going to come out of these clothes not to mention my hair. But you know what?"

"What?"

"I'm not going to get upset, because today? Today is like giving a group of prisoners a last meal before their execution."

"Plotting homicide Sakuno?" His coach's voice sounded distinctly bemused.

"Not me," she denied sounding terribly pleased. "But when Mitsu-nii finds out that they snitched his key so that they could make this visit a surprise he's going to make them run laps until they _die_."

Before Ryuuzaki-sensei could summon up a response to that statement the sounds of a sudden crash and a great deal of yelling erupted from the phone.

"And there goes the plushie display." Ryuuzaki-san's tone suggested that she had foreseen this outcome. "Oh wow, does that manager ever look mad! That shade of red _cannot_ be healthy. Obaa-chan, I think I have to go. It looks like we're going to be kicked out again and this time we'll be lucky if it isn't literally. Love you."

"Love you too. I'll see you at home."

The yelling was getting louder and he could barely hear her affirmative response before the phone call cut off just as the screeching reached a decibel he was sure could cause permanent damage.

Yanagi waited outside the door for a few more minutes before knocking. He had no doubt that the new year would prove interesting and he had a feeling, although he had no data to back it up, that Ryuuzaki Sakuno would be a large part of that.

Tomorrow was the last day of break.

Then the fun would begin.

**Prince of Tennis**

Despite what his personality and general attitude would suggest, Niou Masaharu loved the first day of school.

It was, in fact, one of only two days during the school year that he came in _early_.

It wasn't because he was looking forward to the classes or something ridiculous like that. Nor was he looking forward to socializing with the sheep that made up the majority of the population. What he was looking forward to could be summed up in one word:

Mayhem.

The first day back to school was always chaotic. Niou saw it as his solemn duty to add to that chaos as much as possible. So in addition to the normal back to school hazards of mixed up schedules, locating new classrooms, meeting new teachers, not being prepared, and having stories of all the stupid things they did over vacation become public knowledge students at Rikkai had _other _hazards to worry about.

Hazards involving paint and superglue and grease. Hazards with feathers and fangs and scales. Hazards that exploded. Hazards that made rude noises. Hazard that_ smelled_.

The dread of the returning second and third years, who had already experienced at least one Niou Masaharu First Day of School Extravaganza, was wonderful all on its own. But his very favorite part, the thing he truly waited all year for, was the reaction of the incoming first years.

Already confused and bewildered by their unfamiliar environment their nerves always quickly, and amusingly, turned to terror when they began to realize what they were in for. Niou didn't consider his job a success unless every single first year went home from their first day of middle school at least moderately traumatized.

Ah, schadenfreude. His one great joy.

Besides tennis.

Obviously.

Of course it wasn't all fun and games. His hazing served a higher purpose.

By the end of the day it was always obvious which first years were made of sterner stuff than usual and which would crumble under pressure. Those who managed to make it through the ordeal with their composure reasonably in tact were encouraged to join the tennis club. The key word being _reasonably_ because no one had ever even managed to make it to lunch unscathed and unruffled.

Until now, that is.

Niou Masaharu clenched his fists and glared fiercely at the two tiny first year girls standing in front of him. One was appropriately skittish, all pinch-faced and jumpy, if a bit cleaner then he preferred. The reason behind this inexcusable lack of mess became immediately obvious when one saw the second girl.

Her shoes shone as if they'd just been polished. Her uniform was crisp. Every strand of her ridiculously long hair was in perfect order. She looked like she'd just stepped out of the school's brochure. In short, she was freaking spotless.

But the worst part, the very worst thing about her wasn't the shiny shoes, or the clean uniform, or the neat hair.

It was her expression.

She was _completely_ calm.

Utterly blasé save for a slight quirk at the corner of her mouth that signified nothing stronger than vague amusement. Such equanimity in the face of his genius was unforgivable. Had she worn the fierce, vicious glee of a kindred spirit, the smirk of a fellow artist, the visage of a comrade in arms he would have been able to deal with it. If he was being entirely honest with himself, which he almost never was, he would already be considering making her his successor. However, such bland unconcern was, quite simply, Not Okay.

Hell, even Yukimura freaking Seiichi had been caught on their first day. Granted he'd made Niou fear for his life in retribution and it had never happened again but that wasn't the point. The point was that. He. Had. Been Caught.

So Niou did the only thing an (un)reasonable person could do in that situation:

He followed them and listened in on their conversation.

"This place," the jumpy one moaned as her friend pulled her out of the way of a bucket full of scummy pond water, "Is _completely_ insane. I knew, _knew_ that we should have chosen Hyotei!"

"No way," her friend replied firmly. "_That_ place was crazy. Besides I kind of – Don't touch that!" She grabbed the other girl's hand just in time to stop her from touching a doorknob treated with contact glue. Niou clenched his jaw.

"Besides," she continued as if nothing had happened. "I kind of like it here. It's homey." She reached into her schoolbag and pulled out a handkerchief, which she used to turn the handle.

_Hah, _Niou thought._ She was in for it no– _

She held her friend back before flinging the door open, neatly managing to avoid the bucket of chartreuse paint that came tumbling down in front of them.

Oh. HELL. No.

The little Fun Killer calmly made her way around the spreading puddle and out the door dragging her complaining friend, who was getting louder by the second, along behind her. Niou followed them outside.

"Homey! You find this madness HOMEY?"

"Yuya-chan," Demon Child said softly. "I've told you about my family before. Don't touch that railing."

Yuya, for he assumed that was the shrieking one's name, snapped her hand back immediately. Niou ground his teeth together. Spreading all that peanut butter under there had been _hard_ damn it.

"I thought you were joking," Yuya wailed.

"Uh-uh. It's better now that most of my cousins are grownup and respectable or, you know, at least pretending to be but when I was little it was like prank _warfare_. This is kiddie stuff. Duck! Compared to that, at least." The two dodged just in time to avoid a barrage of water balloons filled with dye. The projectiles sailed over their heads caught a group of bedraggled looking second years by surprise. However, that was a small compensation for Niou considering the insult he'd just been faced with.

Kiddie stuff! That little she monster had just referred to his grandest event of the year as freaking KIDDIE STUFF! Niou seethed but continued to listen as they started to make their way down the concrete steps.

"Kiddie stuff?" The Banshee's voice had gone high and faint. She was obviously suffering from shock.

Join the goddamn club.

"Un. You should have seen the time my cousin Shu overnighted my other cousin Kyo to Osaka. Or the time Nana-nee and Kei-nii got our other cousin Yuki drunk then took his clothes, his cell phone, and his wallet and left him in a hotel room in Shanghai. Then they took anything in the room he could use to cover himself, towels, robes, curtains, all of it, _plus_ the room's phone so he couldn't even call room service for help. He had to walk down to the lobby _naked_. Or – skip this last step."

They hopped over the greased stair. Niou took a small, petty sort of satisfaction in seeing the Irritating Midget stumble slightly and wince when she landed.

"Or," she continued, "The time I went to stay with my cousin An for two weeks and she told me that if I ate nothing but carrots it would improve my balance. I turned orange."

"So _that's_ why you always pick the carrots out of everything!" Yuya said in that tone of voice people use when they finally find out the answer to a question that's been plaguing them for a long time and it turns out to be completely ridiculous. It was a cross between eureka and why-the-hell-did-I-waste-so-much-time-thinking-about-this.

The Formerly Orange Wonder nodded then leveled a concerned gaze at her pole-axed companion. "Ne, Yuya-chan? Don't worry so much, okay? We're moving away from the tennis courts so things shouldn't be as bad now."

Niou and Yuya both stared at her, the former in stunned disbelief and the latter in total incomprehension.

The Root of All Evil explained, "The pranks increase in number and intensity the closer you get to the tennis courts which seem to be like the eye of the storm. Plus, all tennis players are crazy, or all the good ones anyway. It's like a prerequisite."

Niou tried to work up some indignation over that statement but eventually even he had to admit that it was true.

"So the _tennis team_ is behind this disaster?"

"Maybe not the whole team. It's probably just one or two of them setting things up but I'd be wiling to bet that everybody on the team knows who's doing it."

Niou glanced down at his watch. He had to be at the courts in five minutes for a meeting. That meant that he had roughly forty-five seconds to ensure that his new nemesis met her doom before he had to run to ensure that he didn't meet his courtesy of Sanada and his punctuality fetish. Just as he was about to personally intervene in the situation he heard screaming coming from his right that told him that he wouldn't have to.

He'd ordered this baby special, weeks in advance and it was about to pay of big time as two and a half pounds of scary, hairy spider went barreling towards his new least favorite person.

Or at least it would have paid off big time if she hadn't simply picked up a bucket left over from a previously sprung trap and dropped it right over the juggernaut arachnid. Her friend appeared to be frozen in shock. He was pretty close himself.

The Spider Hunter calmly sat down on top of the overturned bucket and tucked her (still ridiculously long) hair behind her ears. Yuya stirred as both the captor and the cage lurched comically under the force of the spider's struggles.

"Yuya-chan I think you should probably go get one of the teachers." Despite her ridiculous position the girl's voice remained soft and firm.

Yuya just nodded faintly and turned around very slowly, though her eyes stayed on her friend.

Nemesis smiled kindly, reached into her bag, and pulled out a book.

Well . . .

That was just . . .

Damn.

**Prince of Tennis **

Kirihara Akaya was having a Very Bad Day.

Not only was it the first day of school, which was reason enough for any day to qualify as awful, but he had spent most of it in the nurse's office waiting for her to have time to free his hand from the tennis ball it was superglued to. Unfortunately there had been so many other people in similar of worse predicaments that she hadn't gotten around to it until the end of the day. He was grouchy, frustrated, missing the top layer of skin on his right hand, and now he was being treated as an errand boy. Again.

He hated being the youngest person on the team. He was a second year and a regular now. He had more important things to do than play fetch for an old lady.

Akaya scowled fiercely as he trudged up the stairs to the second floor of the Arts Building. The music classrooms and practice areas were on the third floor and supposedly that was where Ryuuzaki Sakuno, the crazy old lady coach's granddaughter, would be.

Why the girl couldn't walk to the courts by herself was beyond him. She was in middle school for crying out loud! It wasn't like Rikkai was . . . dangerous . . . or . . .

Except, you know, _today_.

Stupid Niou-senpai and his need to terrorize everyone.

Ryuuzaki-sensei had mentioned that her granddaughter was rather accident-prone and that she was also very shy around people she didn't know well. He guessed that he could understand why she wouldn't want someone like that wandering around on their own after a day like this one. Still, he sulked, why did _he_ have to do it? There was an entire team's worth of pre-regulars standing around doing nothing. One of_ them_ could have done it. Mediocre tennis players though they were they had all mastered the art of walking and would have been perfectly capable of collecting one small girl. He hoped that this didn't become a habit.

The halls were empty, most people having decided to skip any club meetings in favor of going straight home after today. Wimps. He wondered how the girl had fared. He hoped she wasn't crying. Crying girls were way outside his area of expertise and whenever he saw one he tended to just ignore her and hope that she would stop on her own. Considering that Ryuuzaki-sensei had gone so far as to warn the team that she was shy he supposed that he should mentally prepare himself in case she did decide to cry.

He could hear piano music coming from farther down the hall and he decided to follow it. Even if it wasn't her whoever it was probably had a better idea of where she was than he did.

Akaya wasn't a classical music fan. He had seen a few performances when one of his senpai, usually Sanada-fukubuchou or Yagyuu, was coerced into taking him along courtesy of Buchou in order to expose him to "culture" but that was it. Even so he could tell that whoever was behind this particular performance had _skills_.

Akaya could respect that. He firmly believed that if you were going to do something you should be the best. It was why he had chosen to go to Rikkai in the first place. Being mediocre was one of the worst fates he could imagine and he was inclined to think badly of anyone who was content with it.

It was a pretty song, slow and kind of sad. He didn't recognize it but that didn't mean much, the only classical song he could put a name to was Fur Elise, but it was . . . nice. He meandered up to the partially open door his earlier feelings of agitation, not disappearing, but at least being brought down to a more manageable level.

He peered quietly into the room. The girl playing the piano was small and cute and, oddly enough, clean. She looked like someone who'd had a perfectly normal day, like she'd hidden in a closet, cocooned away from the madness, which, when he thought about it, really wasn't a bad idea. He decided to let her finish her song before he asking if she was Ryuuzaki.

Akaya leaned against the doorway and watched her perform through half lidded eyes. She was really into to it, totally unaware of her surroundings, focused. Akaya could respect focus. People without it tended to suck.

The song floated lightly to a close, the notes drifting off softly as if the person playing them had fallen asleep. Akaya stifled a yawn and watched as the girl opened her eyes and hummed quietly to herself as if considering something. She paused then hummed the same phrase again. This time Akaya recognized it as part of the song she'd just been playing. She nodded decisively, removed a small pencil from its perch behind her ear, and began making notations on piece of paper already full of handwritten musical symbols.

Akaya's eye's widened in surprise and he stepped forward and spoke without thinking, "Did you write that?"

The girl gasped and turned suddenly, dropping her pencil and nearly tumbling off the piano bench in the process. Akaya winced. He hadn't meant to scare the kid but from the way she was staring at him that's exactly what he'd managed to do. Oh well.

"You Ryuuzaki Sakuno?" he asked, wanting to move past the awkward silence that was threatening. The girl nodded silently. Akaya felt irritation welling up again. What was her problem? It wasn't like he'd yelled at her or something. Whose fault was it that she was so out of it that a harmless question could freak her out like that?

Still, she didn't seem inclined to say anything any time soon so he continued, "I'm Kirihara Akaya. Your grandmother sent me to get you. Get your things together. I'll wait outside."

He waited for her to nod again before heading out the door. The old lady really hadn't been kidding when she said the girl was shy. He could hear her hurrying to gather her things in the other room and prepared himself for what was shaping up to be a painfully awkward ten minute walk.

"I'm ready." Ryuuzaki's voice was soft and she was staring at her shoes, her school bag slung over one fragile shoulder. She looked like she thought he was going to bite her but there was nothing for it so he just sighed and gestured for her to follow him.

The first minute of the journey was spent in silence, the only sound the echo of their shoes on the wooden floor. Just as he thought he was going to go insane from the lack of noise she spoke.

"It's for a project, the song I mean." She sounded nervous but she wasn't stuttering. "You asked if I wrote it." She fiddled agitatedly with the buckle on the front of her bag.

"It was good," he said. "Made me kind of tired though."

That won him a small, shy smile. "It's a lullaby." Her voice was stronger this time, not so frightened. "I planned on testing it on one of my cousins' children but I guess I don't need to now. Considering that it's due in two days that's probably a good thing."

He grinned, good mood restored now that he wasn't being treated like a dangerous beast. "Waited to the last minute then? How irresponsible."

"You can't rush art," she said calmly, but he could hear the spark of humor hidden beneath the reserve and he barked out a laugh.

They left the Arts Building and he slowed his pace to accommodate her shorter legs. He was about to tease her some more, just to see how she'd react when she spoke again, "Ano, Kirihara-senpai?" She sounded nervous. "I'm sorry my grandmother made you go out of your way to come and get me. You probably had more important things to do."

She was staring at her shoes once again. He couldn't take another minute of the silence they had started out with and he knew that that's what would descend if he made a big deal about having to come get her. So even though he was rather miffed about being forced to act as her escort he brushed it off like it was nothing.

"It's not a big deal. But I gotta ask why? I mean you're in middle school already and it's not like the campus is a dangerous place."

"I know that and you know that but just try telling my grandmother that," she said, sounding longsuffering and not a little frustrated.

"Overprotective?"

"You have no idea," she murmured, seeming torn between her natural shyness and a desire to vent. Akaya tried to look trustworthy. It felt odd.

Apparently it was good enough for Ryuuzaki because she continued, "I'm the youngest of her seventeen grandchildren. Which means that not only does _she_ baby me but all of my aunts and uncles and cousins do too. It's like being surrounded by lots of loud, nosy Styrofoam packing peanuts."

Akaya nodded sympathetically. He knew all about being the youngest and all about how aggravating having a bunch of nosy, loud, not-that-much-older-than-him-and-sure-as-hell-not-smarter pests around almost 24/7 could be. She looked a little embarrassed about her complaint however, so he launched into one of his many stories about his senpai-tachi's interference in his life and soon had her giggling quietly into her hand.

By the time they reached the courts the conversation had managed to make its way to tennis, as most things in Akaya's life did. He was in the middle of giving her a blow-by-blow account of a particularly exciting match he'd had recently when they arrived at the courts.

During the time that they'd been speaking Sakuno-chan, as he'd begun to call her, had relaxed a great deal. She wasn't boisterous by any stretch of the imagination and he was doing most of the talking but she was responding readily and she no longer looked actively nervous. He counted this a great success.

Unfortunately it was not to last. Almost the instant they set foot onto the tennis courts and attracted the attention of the other regulars Sakuno-chan clammed up so tightly it looked like he'd need a crowbar to get any words out. She slowed down to a crawl and edged behind him subtly in an attempt to escape the curious looks being directed her way. Just as he was about to tell her that while their senpai _were_ pretty funny looking there was no real reason to be scared of them, a comment that would serve the dual purpose of pissing off the others and reassuring the practically trembling first year girl currently using him a shield, he felt the Glare of a Very Angry Senpai being thrown in their direction.

Akaya was well acquainted with such glares but for the life of him he couldn't think of anything he'd done recently to deserve one. He turned to see who was glaring and received one of the biggest shocks of his young life. Niou Masaharu, the master of getting even rather than mad, was directing the most outright vicious look Akaya had ever seen him wear at Ryuuzaki Sakuno.

Whoa.

"Sakuno-chan? What did you do to Niou-senpai?"

Sakuno looked rather pale. He couldn't blame her.

Her voice was soft and shaky when she answered, "I have no idea."

This was Not Good.

Not Good at all.

**A/N: So yeah. Total. Crack. Sorry about that. But at least Sakuno has made it to Rikkai now.**

**Next chapter: Sakuno temporarily misplaces herself right into the path of the Chitose siblings and a great deal of hair is pulled.**

**Review or Sakuno will send her ninja geese to take you down. They are best appeased by constructive criticism. : )**


	5. In which a great deal of hair is pulled

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**A/N: An anonymous review brought up a good question in a review last chapter: If the Ryuuzaki family is wealthy then why does Sumire need a new job? Couldn't she just retire?**

**The answer is yes, she could. The thing is she doesn't want to. In my mind she loves her job and believes that being retired would be boring. **

**Props go out to my beta strawberry ponta-chan once more.**

_**One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.**___

___**Bob Marley**___

**Chapter Five: In which a great deal of hair is pulled, a great deal of practicing occurs, and great many wrong turns are made.**

Ootori Choutarou sighed heavily and stared down at the harshly marked up piece of sheet music sitting in front of himfor a moment before picking up his pencil and adding a few new notations. He was tired. Practice that morning had been particularly brutal and he was almost certain that it would be just as bad this afternoon. Atobe-buchou was a slave driver of the highest order who didn't seem to understand that some of his teammates had commitments other than tennis that required their time and effort.

He stretched his arms over his head and shook them out. They were so sore that holding up even the slight weight of his violin was a trial. He sighed again.

Trial or not he needed the practice.

He moved to pick up the instrument once more, determined to get the piece he was working on down before his free period was over when he was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the practice room door slamming open.

"Yo! Ootori!"

Choutarou flinched. Mukahi-senpai. It wasn't that the acrobat was a bad person, not really. However, ever since he'd discovered his kohai's connection to his much admired 'Ryuuzaki-chan' he'd become almost insufferably moody around the younger boy. Choutarou considered himself a patient person but his senpai's constant vacillation between jealous standoffishness, ingratiating helpfulness, and shameless nosiness was beginning to wear on even his goodwill.

"Now, now Gakuto," a calm, vaguely amused voice cautioned. "There's no need to be rude, especially if you're still intending to ask a favor."

Oshitari-senpai. Thank God. With Oshitari-senpai present it was almost certain that things wouldn't devolve into yet another one-sided argument. Though depending on what sort of favor Mukahi-senpai was asking for it still might end up happening. Choutarou was a good kohai and a helpful person in general but he drew the line when it came to assisting his teammate in virtually stalking one of his female friends. He had firmly and repeatedly denied any and all requests, bribes, and threats the redhead made that even verged on indecent.

There were a lot of them.

Granted, he and Mukahi-senpai had _very_ different ideas of what did and did not constitute indecency. Nothing the older boy had requested had been truly harmful or invasive but most of it would have definitely made Sakuno-chan uncomfortable and that was something he was absolutely unwilling to do.

Choutarou took a deep breath in preparation, ready to deny another request for pictures or hair-ties or something equally ridiculous. He was surprised when the request turned out to be perfectly reasonable.

Unfortunately it was still undoable.

"I read on the Institute's website that Ryuuzaki-chan is going to be performing as part of an exhibition at the opening of a new theater in the Kansai region. It's a really small place and the tickets are already all sold out." Mukahi-senpai sounded sulky as if having to ask Choutarou for a favor was physically painful. He took a deep breath and continued, "I was wondering if you could get me one."

Choutarou shook his head, honestly regretful. "I'm sorry senpai. If I'd known you wanted to go earlier I probably could have done something, but the performance is in _two_ days. I can still try but it probably won't happen. Tickets tend to go fast once people find out Sakuno will be performing. Half the Institute is dragging itself out to Kansai to watch her. You aren't her only fan."

"But you're her partner! Surely she'd find space for you!"

"Probably," Choutarou agreed easily. "But she already knows that I can't come and ever since you got carted of by Institute Security for _following her around_ she's been rather wary of any mention I make of my teammates. I won't lie if she asks me who the ticket is for."

"That was your fault! If you'd just delivered the flowers like I'd asked you to then I wouldn't have tried to do it myself!"

Choutarou didn't say anything and after a few more minutes of accusatory yelling Mukahi-senpai slammed his way back out into the hall.

"That certainly went well."

Choutarou wanted to glare at the tensai smiling mildly at him from the corner of the room but he was too tired. Maybe if he ignored him he'd go away.

"Is Ryuuzaki-san really so unaccustomed to dealing with her fans?"

"_Fans_ she has no problems with," Choutarou replied. "_Stalkers_ on the other hand . . ." He deliberately allowed his voice to trail off, hoping his senpai would get the hint and let the subject drop. Of course, that was too much to ask for.

Oshitari-senpai just chuckled, obviously amused. "Come now, Gakuto is harmless. He's not asking for anything indecent. He just wants–"

"I know what he wants!" Choutarou snapped. "The whole _team_ knows what he wants! Sakuno-chan, on the other hand, hasn't gotten a say in any of this and I won't let him make her uncomfortable because he _wants_ to!"

For a few moments the room was quiet, the only sound his own harsh breathing. Choutarou closed his eyes and tried to calm down. This wasn't like him. He didn't get mad often and even on the rare occasions that did he certainly didn't go around _yelling_ at people because of it. He opened his mouth, intending to apologize but his companion beat him to it.

"That's very true. I'd hadn't thought of it that way. I'm sure that if Gakuto realized his behavior was upsetting Ryuuzaki-san that much he would stop being so," here the tensai paused, obviously searching for a diplomatic phrase. "Enthusiastic. I'll talk to him."

Choutarou didn't answer, which his senpai seemed to mistakenly take as permission to continue.

"You've seemed tired lately. Are you feeling alright?"

Choutarou felt the rest of his already fading annoyance leave him in the face of his teammate's obvious concern.

"I'm fine. I've just been a little . . . tired lately."

Oshitari-senpai nodded. "You've been practicing a lot. More than usual."

It wasn't a question but Choutarou could tell that the older boy expected an answer. Knowing how persistent this particular senpai could be once he was interested in something, he knew that it would be easiest to give him a full explanation right away. Any attempts to brush him off or to conceal information would only lead to an interrogation later. It was best to indulge him while he was still willing to play nice.

"Two of the first floor players at the Institute are seniors in high school this year. Once they graduate they'll be leaving the Institute to pursue music elsewhere."

"Meaning, of course, that the competition for the two spaces they'll leave open is already starting." Oshitari was beginning to sound intrigued, borderline excited. "Choutarou, are you planning to go out for one?"

"Un. The official competition won't take place until March but everyone knows that what they're doing now is just as important. If I want to have a chance later I need to start expanding my repertoire and working on my technical quality _now_. Polishing my ability to convey emotions to the audience wouldn't be a bad idea either. On top of that I need to start entering, and winning, outside competitions." It sounded so overwhelming now that he'd said it out loud. Getting a spot on the first floor wouldn't be easy.

Then again it wasn't supposed to be.

"If I recall correctly you also need one of the existing Pillars to sponsor you." Choutarou started slightly at his words. He shouldn't have been surprised to know that his senpai knew Institute slang but it still felt odd to hear someone unconnected to the school use the term.

"Sakuno-chan has already offered to act as my sponsor when the time comes," Choutarou said softly. Far from setting his mind at ease, the knowledge that his friend and partner would be the one to sponsor him was actually one of his greatest sources of anxiety. How well he did in the eventual competition would have an affect on her reputation as well. Her standing was high enough that if he didn't do well she wouldn't lose _her_ place on the first floor, but it would reflect badly on her judgment nonetheless.

It was going to be a busy year.

He only hoped he was up to it.

**Prince of Tennis**

Sakuno had been a student at Rikkai Dai for two weeks and, for the most part, she had no complaints. Her classmates and teachers were kind, her classes were relatively easy to get to, and she was finally beginning to learn her way around. Even if she _did_ manage to get lost Akaya-senpai, as he insisted on being called, had given her his cell phone number and told her to call him if she ever needed help finding her way. She hadn't needed to yet but she felt much better knowing that she had that option.

Though she was ashamed to admit it now, Akaya-senpai had scared her at first. He was a lot bigger than she was, tended to be very loud, and seemed to change moods at the drop of a hat. He was unpredictable. Sakuno didn't like unpredictable.

It hadn't been long, however, before she'd realized that he was actually very nice. He was only a year older than her and he always had something to talk about, never seeming to mind if she was quiet as long as she was willing to listen.

It wasn't as if listening to him was a chore either. Akaya-senpai was _funny._ He always had a silly story ready for their walk back to the courts at the end of the day. Sakuno liked him.

She liked most of the other Regulars too, although she didn't know any of them nearly as well.

Jackal-senpai and Yagyuu-senpai were always kind, although a bit distant and Yanagi-senpai reminded her so much of Inui-san that she hadn't been at all surprised to find out that they'd been doubles partners when they were in elementary school.

Marui-senpai was nice too but he made her a little nervous. He was always telling her what a good cook she was, which she didn't mind except that he always followed it up with comments about how cute she was or how pretty she looked that day. He was also a lot like Eiji-san in that he didn't have a lot of boundaries when it came to personal space. He was always tapping her nose or ruffling her hair or sneaking up behind her and _hugging _her. Eiji-san had always treated her like a stuffed toy but this felt different and she got the feeling that Marui-senpai didn't think of her as a stuffed toy at all.

She wasn't quite sure _what_ he though of her as but whatever it was seemed to make Akaya-senpai _mad_. He was always yelling at the older boy to stop touching her and sometimes she thought he might have even hit him if Sanada-senpai hadn't intervened.

Sakuno liked Sanada-senpai too. A lot of the girls in her class thought he was scary but he reminded her of her Mitsu-nii. He was very quiet but when he did talk to her he was always very polite and his voice was never mean or loud. He was very stern and honorable and sometimes Sakuno wondered what he'd do if someone tried to turn _his_ tennis rackets into snowshoes. The thought made her giggle but she certainly didn't want to be the one to find out first hand.

In fact the only member of the Regulars that she _didn't_ like was Niou Masaharu.

The thought of the silver haired doubles player made Sakuno scowl and swing her legs a little harder where she was seated in the bleachers. Niou-senpai was a nasty, mean spirited boy with hard, sharp eyes and a razorblade smile.

He also seemed dead set on making Sakuno's life as miserable as he could possibly manage.

And she had no idea why.

Usually people had reason for tormenting others. It wasn't necessarily a _good_ reason but at least it existed. Niou-senpai on the other hand seemed to require nothing other than the fact that she was _there_. He'd been after her from the moment they'd met and she was getting absolutely sick of it! Sakuno was a very patient person. It took a lot to make her mad but something about Niou Masaharu rubbed her the wrong way and she knew exactly what it was.

He was a bully.

If there was one thing in the world that Sakuno hated more than fangirls then it was bullies.

The pranks weren't the problem, she could deal with those easily. Like she'd told Yuya-chan on the first day, she was used to pranks, comfortable with them, and confident in her ability to dodge them.

What she _wasn't_ used to was the hair pulling.

Sakuno had had long hair for as far back she could remember and was well aware of all the trials and tribulations, both social and environmental, that came along with it. In addition to getting caught on passing scenery long hair, especially soft, shiny long hair like Sakuno's, practically invited people to touch it. It became public property almost. Girls wanted to play with it, adults were forever ruffling it, and boys occasionally tugged on it.

Sakuno could deal with tugging. For the most part it was playful, affectionate even. Her cousins tugged on her hair, as did her grandmother and many of her friends. Tugging didn't bother her at all.

Niou-senpai didn't tug.

He _yanked_.

There was nothing playful or affectionate about it. It was as vicious and mean spirited as he was. It _hurt_.

And there seemed to be nothing she could do to stop him. It didn't matter how she wore her hair or if she was trying to avoid him or even if they were in front of other people. Somehow, someway he managed to pull her hair hard enough to bring tears to her eyes and leave her with a prickling scalp and a headache with no one else the wiser.

She was sick of it.

"Oi, Sakuno-chan!" Marui-senpai called cheerfully from where the Regular's impromptu meeting was breaking up. "Got any cookies left for your favorite senpai or have you fed them all to the brat again?"

Sakuno giggled her bad mood breaking up upon seeing the pitiful look he put on in an effort to coax sweets out of her. He was silly. She shook her head and shot him an apologetic glance but at his genuinely crestfallen expression she quickly gave up the game and brought out the few remaining chocolate chip cookies she'd saved for him from her Home Ec. assignment earlier that day. He was immediately revived and after scolding her for being a mean kohai for a few moments bounded over to collect his prize.

The rest of the team quickly followed, grabbing their bags off the surrounding bleachers and stopping to say goodbye before darting off home, more than ready to start the weekend. She was so busy telling Yagyuu-senpai, who was a classical music fan, about the theater opening she was going to be playing in on Sunday that she didn't even notice Niou-senpai sneaking up behind her until her scalp was burning in pain from the hard jerk he'd given her hair.

That was IT! She was done, over it, sick and tired.

She stood up quickly and whirled around. If he wanted to be a jerk then FINE! Let him. But she wasn't going to let him get away with it scot free any more.

Two could play at that game.

She glared up at him for a moment hands fisted at her sides.

"What's the matter," he taunted, bending down slightly to smirk at her, his silver horsetail falling over his left shoulder. "Need something? Besides a haircu–"

He stopped, cut off midsentence, and gave a pain-filled squawk as one of Sakuno's tiny hands darted up from her side, grabbed onto his ponytail, and pulled hard enough to send him stumbling forward a few steps.

For a moment there was silence as the occupants of the courts tried to process what had just occurred.

Sakuno just gave a small huff of aggravation and spun around, stomping off in the direction of the parking lot muttering about big stupid jerks who didn't know when to stop.

Served him right.

**Prince of Tennis**

Chitose Senri yawned and stretched his arms over his head, content to bask in the cool air of the early evening. It wasn't quite dark yet but it was getting there fast and he held his younger sister's hand tighter within his own so she couldn't manage to slip away and get kidnapped. Miyuki had balked at the indignity of being treated like a baby but he'd stood firm and eventually she'd given in. Had it been anyone else she probably would have kicked them in the shins and run away, sometimes it was good to be the big brother.

It had been a good day, all things considered. He'd gotten to play tennis, there were no large crises involving his less circumspect teammates to deal with, and he hadn't been required to get out of bed before noon. Life was good.

Life would have been even better if he hadn't been required to go home, shower, wear a _tie_, and drag his protesting baby sister off to some classical music concert that his mother had been rattling on about for ages.

It wasn't that Chitose had anything against classical music, it was actually rather nice sometimes. He just generally didn't enjoy any activity other than tennis that required him to be anything other than lazy. So while listening to it at home was fine putting all this effort into getting himself ready; getting Miyuki ready, a task made nearly impossible by the fact that he'd been required to coerce her into a dress and what she called "girl shoes"; and rush the two of them across town to the new theater/auditorium that was opening at the local university just seemed like too much to ask.

But he did it.

His mother was a classical music fan. She'd played the cello when she was younger and although she didn't practice anymore she still loved the songs and the sounds that had filled her childhood and adolescence. She went to performances whenever she could but money got pretty tight in the Chitose household some years and it had been a while since she'd last gone to one.

So when his father had come home from work three weeks ago with four free tickets to see the grand opening performance at this little hole in the wall theater she'd been so excited that neither he nor Miyuki had been able to tell her no.

Miyuki grumbled incoherently from her position next to him, glaring viciously at her shoes and the hem of her dress. _She _had come close to saying no but a well-timed elbow from him and a stern glare from their father had been all that was required to convince her to remain quiet. Usually it took duct tape so he knew she wasn't actually too upset.

He was about to make his third attempt of the evening to wipe the scowl off her face when a conversation going on nearby caught his attention.

"I'm fine Mitsu-nii, really! Nothing bad has happened I promise. I just got a little turned around." The girl's voice was young, she sounded about Miyuki's age and she was using that tone of voice particular to younger sisters who believe they are being needless fussed over by their older brothers. Miyuki had been using that tone all night so it was no wonder that it caught his attention. He was prepared to continue walking when the girl continued.

"Okay, okay! A lot turned around," she sounded exasperated.

He paused mid-step. There was something about the situation that was telling him that walking off would be a bad idea. Over the years Chitose had learned to trust his gut instinct. So despite the fact that it elicited another round of whining from Miyuki he stopped and looked for the source of the voice. When he found it he knew exactly what it was about the situation that was making him reluctant to leave.

The voice belonged to a girl with long hair holding a cell phone. She was small. She was cute.

And she was _completely _alone.

It was a tragedy waiting to happen. A pretty little girl like that wandering around alone in the dark the way she was, was just asking for trouble. He checked to see if there were any adults around that she seemed to be with in case he was mistaken about her being on her own but a few moments of observation were enough to convince him that his first impression was correct.

So Chitose did what any nice guy with a little sister would do and began walking towards her intending to help her find her way either to where she was going or to somewhere safe where she could be picked up.

"I'm telling you I'm not lost!" she snapped. "I've just." Here she paused, searching for words. "I've just temporarily misplaced myself. Anyway, I've got to go. If I want to get to the theater in time then I need to focus on figuring out where it is. Ja ne!"

She clicked the cell phone shut and put it on silent, obviously intending to ignore the concerned individual should they decide to call back. Chitose smiled slightly. Despite the lack of common sense the action showed he had to admire her spunk. _Temporarily misplaced_ indeed.

She pulled out a piece of paper and glanced down at it then looked around as if trying to decide which way to go. That was his cue to intervene.

"Excuse me, are you lost?"

The girl gave a small gasp and whipped her head around to face him, obviously startled. He was sorry that he'd frightened her but he didn't feel too bad, anyone that out of it while lost, alone at night definitely needed someone looking out for them. He smiled at her hoping to put her at ease but she remained wary. He considered being offended, it wasn't like he was a pervert or something, but decided in the end that it was a good thing. If she'd trusted him just because of a smile it would have shown an appalling lack of sense.

"I'm sorry for startling you," he continued. "My sister and I were just on our way to meet up with our parents when I spotted you. Maybe we can help you get where you're going."

The girl's large brown eyes flickered towards Miyuki and she relaxed slightly before turning them back to him. She stared at him for a few more moments, as if trying to get his measure from the mere sight of him, before nodding. Chitose couldn't help being glad that her examination was finished; the weight of her gaze was surprisingly heavy for someone so small and unassuming. He was willing to bet that it had something to do with her ridiculously long eyelashes. Chitose was a sucker for long eyelashes.

"That would be very kind of you," she said "I'm trying to find the new University Theater–"

"That's where we're going!" Miyuki interrupted. "My name's Chitose Miyuki and this is my older brother. Who're you?"

Chitose winced. His sister could be . . . abrupt and she tended to speak _very _quickly when she was excited or aggravated. At the moment she was both which nearly tripled her usual speed. Thankfully, the other girl didn't seem offended and offered them both a shy smile before she responded.

"My name is Ryuuzaki Sakuno. It's nice to meet you. I'm glad that helping me won't be taking you out of your way, it would be a shame if you were late to the performance." Her voice was very soft and she still sounded rather uncertain. Cute _and_ shy. Chitose was doubly glad he'd stopped.

Before Miyuki could do or say anything embarrassing, like how she would have been _glad_ to miss the show he calmly broke in. They needed to get moving if they wanted to be at the theater on time. For a few moments the group walked in silence, Ryuuzaki placing herself on Miyuki's other side. Of course, with his sister around the silence wasn't destined to remain in tact for long.

"Are _your_ parents forcing you to go too?"

Ryuuzaki shook her head and opened her mouth to answer but Miyuki beat her to it.

"Really?! Do you actually like that stuff or are you just going to see that prodigy girl that's supposed to be performing that everybody's so excited about?"

"That stuff? P-prodigy girl?" Ryuuzaki was beginning to look overwhelmed. Miyuki often had that effect on people. If she didn't find her footing in a few more moments he'd intervene, until then he was perfectly content to simply watch the show. Unlike his sister Chitose was a decided observer. Being passive made life in general a great deal easier.

"You know, classical music. Do you like it or are you just going to see the prodigy? Personally, I'd rather be playing tennis but my mom is all excited about watching this girl perform." Miyuki's voice was an odd combination of longsuffering and authority. She looked about two seconds away from crossing her arms and huffing dramatically.

"I like classical music," Ryuuzaki answered, her face going red. She made no mention of the prodigy, instead latching onto Miyuki's comment about tennis, inquiring if she played.

Tennis, of course, was Miyuki's favorite subject and a good fifteen minutes were spent in a rather one-sided discussion about it. Ryuuzaki was surprisingly knowledgeable about the subject and she soon admitted that her grandmother was a coach and that several of her cousins had played when they were younger. The name Ryuuzaki rang a bell in Chitose's mind but he couldn't quite place it. Upon learning that Miyuki planned on pursuing tennis seriously when she reached middle school Ryuuzaki's eyes took on a considering sheen but she didn't say anything and so Chitose allowed the moment to pass in silence.

"So how'd you end up getting lost anyway?" Miyuki asked after a particularly long soliloquy on the differing merits of two brands of rackets.

Ryuuzaki blushed again before answering. "I got off the train at the wrong stop."

"That's not so bad," said Miyuki. "People do that all the time. It's no reason to be embarrassed."

"But most people don't proceed to get on the wrong bus twice, then take the right one to the wrong stop, then get _back_ on the train to get to the right stop only to go the wrong way once they get off." She turned even redder upon seeing the shocked expression on Miyuki's face. He didn't even want to know what his looked like. He just hoped his jaw wasn't actually hanging open.

Ryuuzaki shrugged sheepishly and mumbled, "I have a bad sense of direction."

"Understatement of the year!" his sister exclaimed. "I can't believe your family lets you go out on your own." Normally Chitose would have chided Miyuki for being rude but after the other girl's rather daunting list of wrong turns he was actually forced to agree.

"They usually don't," she admitted. "My driver was supposed to bring me but his wife went into labor so I gave him the day off and said I'd take the train."

Before Chitose could fully wrap his brain around the fact that their new acquaintance had her own _driver_ they turned a corner and found themselves directly in front of the theater.

It was a large, handsome brick building that fairly sparkled with the peculiar gleam that came from being new. The outside was teeming with people waiting in line to enter. A quick scan revealed that his parents were not among them. Knowing his mother they were probably already inside at their seats. Chitose sighed.

"We'd better get in line so they can check our tickets." He was trying his best not to sound sulky but it was working as well as he'd hoped. He hated lines. They were stressful.

"No need," Ryuuzaki said calmly, walking purposefully towards the front doors. "I can get us in over here."

Chitose eyed the guards standing in front of the entrance warily. They looked like they meant business and he was skeptical about her ability to get past them. Only his hatred of lines and the knowledge that she had a _driver_ kept him following Ryuuzaki. Rich people often did things most people couldn't.

That seemed to be the case at the theater as well. Once short glance a Ryuuzaki's pass and a short statement to the effect of 'they're with me' and they were inside, no lines necessary.

Who said that no good deed goes unpunished? Chitose felt very well rewarded indeed.

Before he could thank her however a rather intimidating looking man called her name and after a short conference that he couldn't hear Ryuuzaki gave them a short bow, thanked them quickly, and sped off. Chitose grabbed Miyuki's hand, prepared to wander off in search of their seats when the large stranger stopped them.

"Sakuno has informed me that the two of you are responsible for her arriving here in time for the performance. Is this true?"

Chitose nodded but didn't say anything, the man looked rather short tempered and he didn't want to push him unnecessarily.

"Very well," the man snapped. "Follow me."

Chitose looked at Miyuki.

Miyuki looked back.

They both shrugged.

Neither was willing to argue with the giant striding away in the direction of the seats so they followed in silence. To Chitose's surprise the man lead them straight to their parents, stopping directly in front of them.

"Are these your children?"

His parents looked rather stunned. He couldn't blame them. He'd been around for he entire event and _he_ had no clue what was going on. His mother recovered first.

"Y-yes. Is everything alright? They haven't caused any trouble have they?"

"No," the man replied, his face and voice stony. "On the contrary they've saved everyone a great deal. As thanks you're being moved to the VIP seating area."

Chitose had no idea how to respond to his parents' questioning looks. Was Ryuuzaki's family really that important? He followed the man in bewildered silence to their new seats and responded to any queries with shrugs and denials. Miyuki did the same. Eventually their parents were forced to accept that they honestly had no clue what they'd done to merit such special treatment and the interrogation ended. A few moments later the show started.

It was alright. The players were good but not amazing and Chitose held with his assessment that it would have been a lot less of a hassle to stay at home. So far the reward wasn't worth the work.

Intermission came and went and he resigned himself to sitting through another hour of mediocre playing and a good two hours of traffic on the way home.

Joy.

He was not enthused.

Or at least he wasn't until he heard the name of the next performer.

"Our next performer is a real treat," the announcer said, sounding more excited than he had all night. "Widely acknowledged as one of classical music's next greats and the youngest first floor player in the history of the Tokyo Musical Institute you'll get to hear her play not only several well known pieces but also three original compositions never before heard by the public."

That news got a louder round of applause than anything else had all night. Whoever she was, the girl had a large fan base, meaning she was either really good or really cute. Maybe both. Either way her credentials sounded impressive although he wasn't quite sure what all of them meant. Miyuki snorted skeptically beside him, determined to be unimpressed.

"Please welcome Ryuuzaki Sakuno!"

Wait.

No way.

No. Way.

Chitose's brain sputtered and died.

While he was occupied trying to get it to reboot and failing rather spectacularly, Ryuuzaki, all dressed up and as cute as ever made her way across the stage. He boggled, shook his head, and boggled some more.

NO. WAY.

His brain flickered back to life as she introduced herself and the song she was about to play, remembering her blush at Miyuki's mention of the prodigy and her quick avoidance of the subject. He would have pondered on the matter some more but she began playing before he could and all coherent thought was subsequently driven out of his head by the sheer force of her music.

Ryuuzaki was _good_.

He rode comfortably on the waves of the music as if lost at sea, coming up for air in the short applause filled intervals between songs. _This_ was a show worth leaving the house for.

He recognized all of the pieces she played during the first forty-five minutes of the show and although they were lovely he couldn't help but be curious about the ones she'd written herself. He figured that they had to be pretty good if they were intending to end the show with them. After a rather intense rendition of Chopin's _Tristesse_ a small group of other performers began moving their instruments back on stage. Sakuno introduced them quietly and informed the audience that they were fellow Institute students who'd agreed to help her out by performing the songs she'd written. Judging by the looks most of them were shooting her, a combination of gratitude and adulation, it hadn't taken a great deal of convincing on her part.

"I've been composing for a long time," Ryuuzaki said, her perpetually quiet voice magnified by the microphone. "But I've never played my songs for an audience this large before. The first song we'll be playing is called _Tokyo at Midnight_. Next will be_ Eternities in Moonlight_. The show will be concluded with my latest piece called _Lullabies Lost_. I hope you enjoy them."

She sat back down at the piano and at a nod from her the players assembled on the stage sprung into motion. _Tokyo at Midnight_ was a fast paced, dizzying joyride of sound. It was a beautiful, winding, whirling piece of music that left him feeling oddly bereft and rather wobbly when it was over. It was a song about life.

_Eternities in Moonlight_ was almost the exact opposite. It was slow and sad and almost painfully sweet, rising and falling its way to a conclusion as soft as a dying breath. It was a song about loss.

The last song was the simplest instrumentally, only the piano and two singers, a girl and a boy who both appeared to be in high school. But emotionally it was the most complex. Rather than having a single outstanding theme, _Lullabies Lost _had many woven together. The words were in Italian but the music alone managed to convey love and loss, memory and nostalgia, fragility, remembrance, and the sort of peace brought only by time. He wondered whom it was for.

The song rose to a crescendo and died quietly; it's echoes lingering about the rafters and in the hearts of the audience.

She got a standing ovation.

No surprise there.

The rest of the night was a bit of a blur. The entire VIP section was allowed backstage to meet the performers and Ryuuzaki came up to his family first. She thanked him and Miyuki again for helping her and spoke to everyone for a while, though his mother rather dominated the conversation. After a few minutes the same stern faced man from earlier called her away to talk to some of the other guests and she said her goodbyes. However, before she left she and Miyuki exchanged email addresses and she promised to keep in touch, assuring his mother that she'd send them all free tickets to her next show.

"I like to play these smaller venues," she'd said, smiling shyly. "With the larger ones in Tokyo a lot of the people show up simply because it's the thing to do. In places like this you get more people who come for the music's sake rather than because of social obligations. It will be nice to know that there will be at least a few people like that in the audience when I play in the future."

Then she disappeared, lost in the crowd backstage as if she'd never been there at all.

**Prince of Tennis **

Sakuno hummed softy to herself as she packed up her things, glancing around the school's practice room to ensure that she wasn't forgetting anything. Satisfied that she'd managed to collect everything that belonged to her she stood up from where she'd been leaning over her bag and stretched contentedly. She was in a good mood. Not only had the show on Sunday gone well but she'd made a new friend and she'd been able to avoid her least favorite senpai all day. Perhaps her actions on Friday had finally gotten her point across.

Whatever the reason, life was currently very, very good.

She sat back down on the piano bench, happy to wait for Akaya-senpai to come and get her. She couldn't wait to tell him all about the adventures she'd had this weekend, it would be nice to be the one telling the story for once.

Thinking about Sunday's events naturally brought to mind her new friend Miyuki. On their way to the theater Miyuki had explained that although she wanted to go to a good tennis school for middle school most of the places with really strong girls programs were out of her family's price range. That had made Sakuno think.

As most of her family would no doubt warn, when Sakuno thought the results tended to be either very good or very, very bad.

In this case, for Miyuki at least, the results were good.

Sakuno's cousin Konomi had been the captain of the girl's tennis team at Seika, a topnotch girls boarding school, during her third year in both middle and high school. Nowadays she was still a very highly regarded alumni who was a chair on several committees, one of which determined who would get several extremely desirable sports scholarships.

One of which was for tennis.

After a short telephone conversation with her cousin she'd felt confident that if Miyuki deserved the scholarship she would have a fair chance of getting it. So she'd sent the link to the necessary paperwork in her first email to her new friend and had received an enthusiastic response within hours. If Miyuki was chosen as a finalist then she would have to interview with a member of the committee and if it got to that stage Konomi-nee had already promised to do the interview herself.

Sakuno loved it when things worked out the way she planned.

So she hummed cheerfully while she was waiting, fiddling around with the piano keys. There was a strain of music that had been running through her mind for the past few days, developing into a full-blown idea. It was at the perfect stage for her to begin writing it down. Just developed enough for her to have something to work with but not so developed that her idea of how it should go had become rigid. She planned to start working on it as soon as she got home.

She heard the door click open behind her and grinned, whipping around and hopping off the bench, ready to tell her senpai about all the good things that had happened since she'd last seen him. Upon seeing exactly which senpai was leaning against the doorframe, however, her grin died and she fought the urge to sink back down onto the bench in dismay.

For two weeks, _two whole weeks_, it had been Akaya-senpai who'd come to pick her up everyday. Sakuno was comfortable with that, enjoyed it even! Why they would suddenly decide to change the routine now was beyond her and why they would change her escort to _him_ of all people was absolutely unfathomable.

Maybe she was being punished.

That had to be it, she decided. What she'd done on Friday had shocked everyone so badly that despite the fact that _he'd started it_ she was now being punished for disrespecting an upperclassman.

That was completely and totally Unfair.

However, Unfair or not the fact remained that Niou Masaharu was standing in the doorway of the practice room, looking at her with a completely unreadable expression, blocking the only escape route.

This was Not Good.

Not Good at all.

She gulped and stared back, waiting for him to for him to make his move. She promised herself in that moment that no matter how horrible it was. No matter how smelly, or sticky, or painful his revenge would undoubtedly be she wouldn't apologize.

He was a bully and she wasn't sorry.

"Do you plan on leaving or are you going to stand there staring at me all night? I know I'm good looking, but really! Take a picture or something. I'd like to get out of here before I'm old and gray." His voice was just as snide as usual but Sakuno stood her ground.

Biting back a retort about the fact that his hair was _already_ gray and that his attitude was getting old fast she stared him down for a few more moments, unmoving before asking where Akaya-senpai was.

"The brat ran into a little bit of trouble earlier, nothing serious really, just a minor complication. But unfortunately it means that I got landed with the job of coming to get you instead." He said all of this very nonchalantly and Sakuno suppressed a sympathetic shudder at the thought of what the second year might be suffering. She hoped he was alright.

"Let's go kid. This has already taken up too much of my time." Niou-senpai turned around to leave, obviously not expecting a response.

He got one.

"No."

He turned back around to face her. "What did you just say?" He sounded like he couldn't believe his ears.

Sakuno tightened her hold on her bag and raised her chin. "I said _no_. I'm not going anywhere with you so just do whatever it is you're planning to do to me and leave. Me. Alone. I'll get back to the courts by myself."

He stared at her for a long moment and Sakuno shot him her best glare in return, then he huffed sightly. It was a small sound, half amused half exasperated, and it was the friendliest thing she'd ever heard come out of his mouth.

He bridged the distance between them slowly and although he didn't look particularly angry Sakuno still found herself fighting the urge to move back out of his reach. He stopped directly in front of her and bent down so he was staring directly into her eyes.

"You," he said quietly. "Are the _gutsiest _little girl I've _ever_ met."

Then he did something she never would have expected.

He _smiled_.

Not a big smile, mind you, just a small upward quirking of his lips. Most people wouldn't have counted it a smile at all but Sakuno saw it and knew it immediately for what it was.

Then he reached up, grabbed a single lock of her soft hair, and gave it a small, rather respectful, tug.

For a few seconds she did nothing but stare at him, considering and solemn.

Then of course, she smiled back, big and bright and happy, and retuned the gesture.

They left the room and walked all the way back to the courts in companionable silence.

Yes, she decided, it had been a very good few days.

**Omake**

"Oi, Sakuno-chan!" Marui-senpai called cheerfully from where the Regular's impromptu meeting was breaking up. "Got any cake left for your favorite senpai or have you fed it all to the brat again?"

Sakuno shook her head her face stony, and unforgiving. "There is no cake. The cake is a lie."

He felt the world begin to spin and the ground begin to shake beneath him. Suddenly he was falling and falling and falling and . . .

Marui jerked awake sweating and shaking uncontrollably. He looked around him frantic and confused before finally realizing that he was safe in his room.

God he hated that dream!

**A/N: Yay! Chapter five is done! And so soon after chapter four! I'm really happy but it almost seems too much to hope that I'll be able to keep up this schedule for long. **

**I hope the resolution of the Niou/Sakuno conflict was satisfactory to all, I've been planning it for ages so it was nice to finally be able to write it. As for the omake . . . My only excuse for that little piece of random is that my sister is a gamer who loves to use gamertalk in everyday conversation. And I'm insane. **

**Next chapter: Yukimura. Need I say more? I didn't think so. : )**

**Review or Sakuno will pull your hair!**


	6. In which Akaya's temper gets the better

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**A/N: An anonymous reviewer (although a different one than last time) once again brought up an excellent point. I mentioned Sakuno finding her ways to her classes in the last chapter but by classes I meant things like the Home Ec. classroom, the gym, the music classes, the labs, and the cafeteria NOT math or English. In Japan students stay in one classroom and the teachers come to them. Just wanted to clarify.**

**My beta, strawberry ponta-chan, gets her usual grateful accolades.**

**. . . Also, I'm sorry for the long break. I started University in August and that hasn't left me much time for fanfiction. **

**The good news is that an original play I wrote this year will probably be produced by the University's drama department next semester! Yay! And my Professor suggested that I finish the screenplay I wrote for her class this summer and then try to actually sell it. Double yay!**

**Anyhoo, here's the chapter. : )**

_Anyone remotely interesting is mad in some way or another._

_~Doctor Who_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter Six: In which Akaya's temper gets the better of him, clues about Sakuno's Mysterious Past are dropped, and Yukimura Seiichi finally gets his say**

Yagyuu Hiroshi prided himself on his manners, his athletic abilities, and his observational skills. Over the years he'd found that large quantities of all three were practically required if one wanted to survive extended contact with the tennis club. They were absolutely essential if you were a member or a Regular. His ability to charm his way out of tight spots had become integral to his continued existence after becoming doubles partners with Niou.

Being around his teammates required a certain degree of fortitude.

At first he had believed that Ryuuzaki Sakuno lacked that quality. She was so shy, _timid _even, that he'd given her three weeks at best before the madness that hung around the Rikkai Regulars drove her off.

It had been four weeks.

For once he was more than happy to have been proven wrong.

He smirked slightly as he finished his cool down routine. Far from running off screaming into the night, Ryuuzaki not only stood her ground, but managed to be charming while doing it. _That_ took a level of skill that Yagyuu could appreciate.

Akaya had been the first to fall and, in customary Akaya fashion, he'd gone all out. The second year was in grave danger of becoming downright doting towards their coach's granddaughter. He wasn't even pretending to grumble about picking her up from the music room after practice anymore and had actually seemed genuinely disappointed when she started leaving early to go to her music lessons three days a week. He also didn't seem to appreciate the unexpected competition that had sprung up in the forms his various senpai.

Frankly, that had surprised Yagyuu as well. Marui he had expected. Ryuuzaki-chan could cook and the tensai's sugar addiction was well known, as was his habit of flirting with the cooking club to secure baked goods. Although he was never quite so . . .clingy, he supposed was the word, with the members of the cooking club. Marui was never shy with physical affection but he usually exerted at least a modicum of control, particularly with girls.

No, Marui's affection, although selfish in its foundations, hadn't been a surprise. Especially, he thought, since Ryuuzaki-chan had somehow gotten into the habit of making deserts for the tennis team nearly everyday.

The surprise had been Niou.

In general his doubles partner had never seemed interested in girls unless it was to torment them. Then again, he wasn't interested in most people unless it was to torment them, male or female. In general if you weren't either an interesting opponent or a teammate, you were simply a faceless victim to the trickster. Invisible until it was your turn to be picked on.

Although, after her actions two weeks ago even Niou's massive Powers of Dismissal would have been hard pressed to keep her in the Uninteresting category. Fortunately they didn't even try or else he thought his doubles partner's brain might have actually exploded.

Honestly, it had looked close to doing that anyway.

Yagyuu smirked harder at the remembrance and actually had to fight back the urge to snicker. Niou's face after the Event, as he had taken to calling it, had been truly priceless. He'd never seen the other boy look so _stunned_. He himself had been too shocked to move, even to laugh, as had the rest of the team.

The real shock had come, however, when not only did Niou _not_ exact some sort of horrible, painful, humiliating revenge but actually seemed to make some sort of truce with her. Ever since that first day he'd gone to pick her up the two radically different individuals seemed to fall into some sort extremely bizarre friendship.

Niou obviously respected her, a consideration he granted to a pitiful few individuals and Ryuuzaki actually seemed _fond_ of the silver haired menace now that he'd stopped attempting to scalp her with his bare hands. They even had a special greeting, strange though it was. Yagyuu was willing to bet that if anyone one else even thought of touching the trickster's ponytail, much less actually pulling on it, they'd end up missing a hand.

At least.

Nowadays it wasn't unusual for Niou to actually seek her out, just to talk. There was nothing the other boy loved more than an audience and Ryuuzaki proved to be an extremely willing one. She laughed, gasped, and squealed in all the right places and she never failed to be interested. Then again, tales of the Trickster's past and present exploits were generally far from boring and Niou was a very gifted storyteller.

Of course, peace was a myth at Rikkai especially where the tennis club was concerned and the new truce between the two of them had sparked new waves of conflict, with the junior ace at the center of it.

Akaya, in the throes of a rapidly developing crush, was becoming jealous more and more easily as of late and with Sakuno growing closer to other members of the team he was walking around like a rubber band about to snap. Niou and Marui certainly weren't helping the situation, latching on to her with ever increasing ferocity. They had even started going to pick her up before Akaya could manage to escape practice on some days, a habit that left the second year almost vibrating with fury.

Today, thankfully, was not one of those days. After Niou had locked the younger boy in the equipment closet yesterday in order to secure a turn at escort duty a tacit agreement to not push Akaya any farther this week had been reached. While everyone enjoyed teasing the younger boy on occasion none of them wanted to deal with the fallout of an actual meltdown.

Yagyuu finished up his cool down routine and straightened up just in time to see the object of his most recent musings stroll cheerfully onto the courts munching on a cookie, holding a bag that probably contained more. Ryuuzaki walked beside him in smiling silence. It was a calm, happy scene. Rikkai Rule Number One stated that it could not last for long.

It didn't.

Yagyuu watched the tableau dissolve the way people watched a car wreck happen: stunned silence. It was the work of seconds. Marui walked up to the pair chatted for a moment and then made a grab for the bag. Akaya dodged. Marui snatched again and managed to grasp a corner of the bag. There was a quick scuffle, an oddly loud ripping sound, and then cookies were flying out to scatter all over the ground surrounding them. For a moment there was silence.

Then hell broke loose.

Akaya howled and lunged at the tensai in front of him, tackling him to the ground. Marui squirmed and tried to break free to no avail. Though he was larger than the boy attacking him, Akaya's strength was fueled by rage and there was little the third year could do while pinned and out of breath from the fall. Yagyuu began running towards the pair, hoping to intervene before any permanent damage could be done to either party, from the corner of his eyes he could see the rest of the team rushing to do the same.

"YOU BASTARD!" Akaya screamed, rearing back one fist, obviously intending to beat the other boy into submission. Thankfully, before any such thing could occur Jackal reached the pair and intercepted the punch then began the arduous task of dragging the second year away from his intended victim. The task was made harder by the fact that Akaya had anchored his hands to Marui's throat.

The rest of the team converged on the scuffle almost as one and quickly set about separating the two combatants. Niou pried Akaya's fingers away from the tensai's windpipe; Sanada assisted Jackal in corralling the raging junior ace; and Yagyuu dragged a sputtering and gasping Marui as far away from the other group as he could manage.

Ryuuzak just stared.

Yagyuu couldn't blame her. Not only was the second year swearing a blue streak at the top of his lungs but he'd caught a long enough glimpse of Akaya's eyes to see that they were a seriously dangerous shade of red. It certainly wasn't something you saw every day.

As Yagyuu checked Marui over for any signs of permanent damage he could hear the sounds of struggle a few feet away slowing and finally stopping. He quickly shoved Marui off in the direction of the changing room in an effort to put space between the two of them. The tensai stumbled off in silence, his survival instincts obviously warning him to avoid provoking his kohai any farther.

After watching him walk through the door Yagyuu turned around to face the rest of the team. Niou and Jackal were still each holding onto an arm while Sanada stood in front of their captive like a human wall. Akaya's eyes were still red and he was breathing heavily. At a nod from Sanada, Niou and Jackal loosened their hold, allowing Akaya to wrench away with a snarl and stomp over to the bench where his bags were located.

The younger's boys movements were jerky and furious as he slammed his belongings into their containers, muttering fiercely all the while. Everyone jumped when he suddenly picked up a ball and threw it across the courts with a wordless scream of rage. He stared after it for a moment and then slumped down onto the bench as if exhausted. Sanada began to move towards him but stopped when Ryuuzaki began to do the exact same thing.

Her small face was resolute, the earlier stunned fear banished, and her steps were firm and determined. She stopped no more than a few inches away from Akaya's slumped form and rested her tiny hand lightly on his shoulder.

Akaya's head snapped up immediately, his expression livid, mouth already open to yell at whoever dared to intrude on his solitude. The moment it registered who it was, however, his jaws clicked shut and he stared. After a moment the angry lines etched into his face began to fade and the red started to recede from his eyes. Then with a rush of air he deflated completely, his eyes falling closed, his head falling forward to rest against her stomach. One hand came up to rest on top of hers where it lay on his shoulder. Yagyuu goggled. What on earth . . .

They were still for a moment and Yagyuu held his breath afraid to do anything to disturb the bizarre, but not unwelcome, event taking place not twenty feet away.

"You can come over today, obaa-chan won't mind. I'll make you new cookies. Whatever kind you want." Ryuuzaki's voice was soft, but in the silent environment of the courts it carried all the way over to where he was standing.

For a moment Akaya did not respond and when he did it was silent, just a slight nod of his head. He didn't even move away from where he was leaning to do it.

Being around his teammates required a certain degree of fortitude.

Ryuuzaki Sakuno appeared to have it in spades.

Thank God.

**Prince of Tennis**

Akaya followed silently behind the younger girl, clutching her tiny hand firmly in his own as they walked up the front steps to her house. It had been a long, awful week.

Nothing had gone right.

It wasn't fair. His senpai ruined _everything_! Sakuno had been his friend! His! They'd just started to get close and now, suddenly, they all were clamoring for her attention.

It. Wasn't. Fair.

Sakuno turned around to smile at him as she opened the door and he made a valiant attempt to return it and shake off his sulk. They could clamor all they wanted. They could lock him in the equipment closet and get him assigned extra laps and rush out of the shower before he had a chance to rinse off, it wouldn't matter. _He_ was still her favorite. _He_ was still the one she made cookies for and invited home with her.

"We can put our bags in my room," she said, slipping out of her shoes. "Obaa-chan doesn't like it when people leave them in the entry."

Akaya nodded silently, still feeling rather put out, and toed his sneakers off, trailing up the stairs behind her. The house was in a very nice neighborhood and was much larger than he'd been expecting. The inside was carefully decorated and he noticed that most of the furniture and other decorations looked expensive. He hadn't thought teachers made this much money, even at a school as prestigious a Rikkai.

Her room was more than twice the size of his own and he noticed with a slight twinge of jealousy that she had her own connected bathroom dominated by a large, luxurious looking tub. Her bed was a huge, comfortable looking four-poster and light came in through a huge picture window overlooking an expansive garden. One wall was entirely dominated by a menagerie of framed photographs of people he could only imagine were her family. Posters of what appeared to be classical artists covered most of the remaining wall space. Just what kind of extra work was Ryuuzaki-sensei involved in that they could afford to own a place like this?

He dropped his bag where Sakuno pointed and followed her back downstairs as she spoke softly about her day. Listening to her was nice. Comforting. She demanded very little, which after an afternoon of grueling practice was a welcome relief. He could understand very well why the others wanted to spend time with her.

But he didn't have to like it.

They were passing through the spacious, expensive looking living room when a large glass cabinet on the far side of the room caught his eye. It was filled to the brim with what appeared to be trophies. Naturally attracted to anything that had to do with winning he immediately moved to examine it. Plaques, medals, and freestanding awards were crammed together, three or four deep on a single shelf in some places. Shockingly, rather than being tennis awards like he'd expected they all seemed to be awards about music.

They were Sakuno's.

He turned around to stare at the small girl sheepishly examining her toes.

"These are all yours?" he exclaimed.

"Yes," she muttered.

"They're, like, all first place!"

"Yes."

"Wow." His voice was quiet. He'd know that Sakuno was good, _really _good even and she'd mentioned that she competed in passing once or twice but the contents of this cabinet said otherwise.

Sakuno wasn't competing. Sakuno was _dominating_.

He could _totally_ respect that.

He goggled at the shining contents of the glass cabinet for a few moments longer and was fully prepared to turn and follow her into the kitchen when a small wooden cabinet in the far corner of the room, its doors flung wide open, attracted his attention. Unlike its larger, showier counterpart it's display was simple, just a few flowers and some incense framing a single picture of a woman in a delicate silver frame.

She looked like Sakuno.

_Exactly _like Sakuno.

Her hair was darker, her face slightly slimmer but other than that it was like seeing his kohai aged several years.

It was unsettling. Especially considering the woman in the picture was dead.

He moved towards the shrine and saw Sakuno move in the same direction from the corner of his eye.

"My mother," she said. Everything about her, from her voice to her eyes to her smile, was soft and sad. "She died when I was small."

Akaya was silent for a moment. He did not know how to deal with this quiet, gentle grief. Anger was his forte everything else was practically foreign.

"She's pretty." He sent a nervous smile in her direction. "You look a lot like her."

Sakuno flinched. Her face fell, the gentle expression momentarily replaced by a far more raw desolation before she gathered herself again.

"Not really," she replied, her face and voice oddly stiff as she turned from the shrine and started walking towards the kitchen once again.

Akaya followed her in silence. He wanted to ask what happened, wanted to know if her father was dead too or just gone, wanted to know why a compliment had put that look on her face. But he thought about how she flinched like he'd just hit her and about his own family and decided that there were things he didn't need to know right now. When she was ready she'd talk and he would make sure he was ready to listen.

He could wait.

For now there were cookies.

It was enough.

**Prince of Tennis**

If Yukimura had to pick the one thing he hated most about being in the hospital it would undoubtedly be not being able to play tennis.

If he had to pick _two_ the second one would be being out of the loop when it came to his teammates.

Getting information without seeming like a gossipy girl or putting his pride on the line and appearing pathetically interested in the events of the world outside the hospital was difficult but Yukimura Seiichi was more than up for the challenge.

The real problem was finding a source of _accurate_ information.

Renji was the obvious source when it came to the physical condition of the team but he wanted to know more than how their backhands were progressing. Unfortunately, Renji wasn't the most social person in the entire world and rarely analyzed personal motivations and influences outside of determining whether they were logical or not. They usually weren't.

He ran into similar problems with most of his other teammates as well.

Sanada was so socially inept that asking him to read social situations was like asking a blind man to drive a bus full of kindergarteners up a mountain. Akaya and Marui were too self-absorbed to care overmuch about those around them. Yagyuu was too polite to talk about others behind their backs and Niou's view of things was so colored by his own cynicism that it was difficult to trust in anything he said.

And then there was Jackal. Well-adjusted, friendly, sanity-saving Jackal.

Jackal was his in, his mole, his inside line into the team he could no longer truly be a part of and recently he'd had some very, very interesting things to report.

". . . calmed him right down. I've never seen anything like it. If one of us had tried it we would have walked away bloody but he didn't even yell at her."

"She's getting along with everyone then?"

Jackal chucklued. "I'd say so. Even fukubuchou has a bit of a soft spot for her."

Yukimura quirked a disbelieveing eyebrow. "Really?"

He'd known Genichirou for nearly three years and even he had a hard time equating the word 'soft' to anything even remotely related to his formidable teammate.

Jackal nodded, laughing again. Yukimura dodged a gesturing hand with an ease born of long practice.

"Really. It surprised all of us because, well, it's fukubuchou, you know? Even his fans are a bit scared of him. But Sakuno just says he reminds her of someone. I don't remember the name, probably one of her older cousins. She seems to have a never ending supply of them."

"So I've heard."

"It's actually kind of cute. I told you how she's gotten into the habit of bringing the team snacks, right buchou? It's mostly things she's baked, sweet things. And I guess that somewhere along the line she realized that fukubuchou never ate any of it. He's the only one too. She's a tiny thing but she can _cook_.

Jackal paused for breath. Yukimura smirked but didn't interrupt. Jackal was a talker. The generally quiet society of Japan was not his natural habitat.

The doubles player continued. "So about two weeks ago she shows up with a cake _and_ a platter of onigiri 'just in case some people weren't in the mood for sweet things' she said."

Yukimura snickered. "Oh dear."

"Yeah," Jackal grinned. "Fukubuchou looked downright touched."

He paused.

"You know. For him."

Yukimura smiled blandly and let his teammate continue babbling, as he listened with half an ear for something else of interest. He had the information he wanted.

He'd known he was going to have to meet this girl eventually.

The difference was that now he really, really wanted to.

It was time to make the call.

**Prince of Tennis**

Yukimura watched his teammates talking nervously, all of them making frequent, agitated glances towards the door. Every time they heard footsteps approaching they all perked up only to slump back down again in defeat as the steps went past the door and on down the hall.

She was late.

_Very_ late.

From what the others had said Ryuuzaki was a polite, if rather shy and clumsy, girl. It didn't fit what he knew of her personality to be anything other than punctual if she could help it. She also seemed to be the type who would call to tell her friends if something had come up that prevented her being there on time. He supposed that _that_ was what the others were worried about.

She wasn't here, she hadn't called, and they were _concerned_.

_All_ of them.

It was the funniest thing he'd seen in ages.

Of course he wasn't about to let them know that. He was having a grand time exacerbating the situation. Every put-upon sigh and annoyed glance at the door invited new levels of tension. Every time he tapped his fingers with impatience they all flinched. He'd honestly thought Akaya was going to faint when he'd finally resorted to crossing his arms and frowning faintly.

It was good to be the buchou. Things like this never got old.

Just as he was gearing up to make a vaguely irritated comment about the time footsteps approached the door and instead of passing it by actually stopped outside it. Everyone in the room straightened up as it opened.

And immediately slumped again at the appearance of a tall man in a long white coat.

"Just tell me he didn't let you ride the subway alone looking like this. If he did I swear I'll actually kill him this time. He has absolutely _no_ common sense! I swear –" The doctor sounded very aggravated and very tired

"Iie. Ryu-nii drove me here himself." The voice that answered was young and female and made all his companions perk up once more. They were going to strain something if they kept doing that, he'd have to put a stop to it in a few moments no matter how amusing it was. "But with the way he drives I probably would have been safer on a train."

"No," the doctor said wryly. "You really wouldn't have been."

Yukimura only had a second to wonder at that response before the girl who had been speaking was revealed.

And then it all seemed very clear.

The girl was total pervert bait.

Yukimura sympathized. He knew how that felt and it definitely wasn't fun. The trains were always full of strange people on the hunt for kids like her. He'd make sure someone would walk her home although judging by the looks on his teammates faces getting a volunteer wouldn't be difficult at all.

_Picking_ one was going to the hard thing.

Maybe he'd just let them fight it out amongst themselves. That had definite possible entertainment value. He'd stop them before they did any serious property damage of course but until then, well, things had been rather boring around the hospital since pitting the nurses against one another had lost it's initial charm. It was too easy.

His contemplations on the potential chaos that would be unraveling later were interrupted by the doctor.

"Whatever," the man sighed. "Are these your friends Sakuno-chan?" At a nod from the girl he sighed once more bid them a nice visit and instructed her to drop by his office before leaving. She agreed wearily and turned to her senpai, looking relieved to be out from under the doctor's watchful eye. Of course, being who they were, her senpai offered her very little in the way of reprieve.

Marui and Akaya reacted first and in unison.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING?"

It was a good question. The frilly black dress would have been unremarkable enough but the chunky black boots with their large silver buckles were unilaterally eye-catching. The black lace gloves and matching tights were . . . unique as well. Her hair fell in shining waves past her thighs, adorned by nothing more than two large black bows, one on either side of her head. The whole ensemble made her look like she'd come straight to the hospital from a Lolita enthusiast's funeral.

The girl, Sakuno he assumed, took a step away from her howling senpai then stopped and clenched her tiny hands into fists. She raised her chin, set her jaw, and answered.

"Clothes."

Akaya snorted and glared at the delicate ribbons holding the bodice shut. "Barely."

Sakuno scowled and opened her mouth to answer but froze as Marui stepped closer to her and grabbed one end of the black satin sash cinched around her narrow waste, eyeing it skeptically.

"What were you doing?" the tensai asked reproachfully. "Tell me you weren't walking around like this."

"I was with my cousin—"

"Is he a pervert?" Niou sneered. "Because you look like a pedophile's imaginary friend."

Until that moment Yukimura had been content to watch the action unfold. His teammates were really too funny, acting all worked up over a dress that was actually rather demure, if a bit frilly for his tastes. However, at Niou's comment and the subsequent hurt flashing across Sakuno's face he decided it was time to intervene. Done right, he could kill two birds with one stone.

"That," he said quietly, "is quite enough."

He smiled gently at Sakuno. The girl's lower lip was trembling in a rather threatening manner although her chin was still raised and her back was still straight as a pin and he found himself oddly proud of the newest addition to his team. Without realizing it his smile changed from Caring Senpai Version Two to something a few degrees warmer, and a good deal more real. He stood up.

"I'm sure Sakuno-chan has an excellent explanation for her dress, which all of you have failed to mention she looks very pretty in."

He moved towards her, easily brushing Marui aside, and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry they're so rude. They seem to have forgotten their manners while I've been gone." This was not true. As far as he could tell, Akaya and Niou had never _had_ manners and Marui only exercised his when it led to him being fed.

Watching the three of them turn virtually purple as they fought to adapt to the new situation, however, was well worth the fib. The rest of the team looked amused or mildly nonplussed. Sanada was as stone-faced as ever, although a bit stiffer than usual, tense. Yukimura suppressed a grin.

Fun!

He decided to se just how much of a reaction he could get before destruction was imminent.

He leaned in closer, putting his face nearly on a level with hers, and smiled his Conspiratorial Smile .

Sanada's already impossibly straight back straightened even further. Niou clenched his fists. Marui crossed his arms. Akaya made an odd choking gurgle, like a drain coming unstopped.

Just a little more . . .

"How should I punish them?"

Sakuno blushed softly but her answer was perfectly coherent. Interesting. Definitely interesting. She smiled.

"Laps."

The word fell from her lips as if it were a bowling ball and the room was a pond. The ripples were large and instantaneous.

Marui and Niou had the good sense to keep their shock silent. Akaya didn't.

"Sakuno-chan!" he wailed, eyes wide with betrayal.

Sakuno ignored him. Yukimura did the same.

"Good idea," Yukinura said. "Here or at school?"

"B-buchou!" Akaya sputtered.

Sakuno bit her lower lip when she thought. She really was a cute little thing. And so much fun to have around. The possibilities really were endless.

"School," she decided, giving her head a little nod. "They don't like it when people run in the halls here. The nurses yell."

Akaya seemed to have given up on speech in favor of incoherent noises of protest.

"Ah, good point. School it is. Do you think double is enough or should we make it triple."

"TRIPLE!" Akaya howled. "TRIPLE?"

Marui and Niou looked resigned. Silently.

Sakuno's already large eyes widened even further at the scope of the suggested punishment.

"D-double is good," she said hesitantly. She paused, adding, "Maybe less?"

"Less?" Yukimura responded, feigning shock. "You're too nice Sakuno-chan! They were so mean to you. Especially Niou."

He shot a sly glance at the delinquent as he said this and took in the way his shoulders stiffened and the suddenly reawakened glare.

It was almost too easy. He fought the urge to smirk. Time to up the ante.

"But if you're sure then . . .fifty laps. Does that sound good?"

Sakuno nodded and he straightened back up causing some of the tension plaguing his teammates to dissipate although they kept a wary eye on his hands where they rested on her shoulders.

"Now, why don't you come sit with me and you can tell me _all_ about why you were so late."

He guided her gently to the bed and watched cheerfully as the room tensed back up again.

He lifted her onto the bed and sat down next to her, flashing a smile at the crowd standing before them. It's easy charm fooled none of them. The fighters were all in their corners. It was time for round two.

Sakuno launched into the story of her day and he fought the urge to snicker at the looks on the Regulars' faces.

He loved getting new toys.

**Prince of Tennis**

Sanada frowned down at his tennis shoes and shifted uncomfortably in the hard, plastic waiting room chair. The hospital bustled around him The visit today had been . . . eventful.

Yukimura had been in rare form, provoking Niou, Marui, and Akaya with virtually every word he spoke. They were fools for reacting. It only encouraged him. In the end they really had no choice, not anymore. Not reacting would have been worse.

Sanada had great respect for his captain and friend. Yukimura was a formidable player, the Child of God, and a dedicated leader. His presence in the club was sorely missed. His habit of riling up the troops, however, _that_ Sanada could live without.

Yukimura was a good person but he got bored easily. A consequence of being stronger, smarter, and faster than most anyone you came in contact with was that a good challenge was hard to find. Here in the hospital, both far away from his main source of interesting opponents and too ill to play even when they were around, Yukimura was seriously lacking any kind of stimulation.

He'd resorted to playing with people.

In some ways Sanada could understand. In no ways did he approve.

Yukimura was his friend, probably his best friend, and he was very aware of all of the other boy's many virtues. That said, he was also aware of his flaws and his friend had seemed determined to showcase every one of them in his behavior today.

Normally, Sanada left well enough alone. Yukimura was responsible person, a good person. He knew when to stop, when enough was enough.

Usually.

The months he'd spent trapped in the hospital had done something to him, had changed something vital. His once harmless needling now had an . . . edge to it that made Sanada distinctly uncomfortable. He'd seen the glances Yukimura had sent his way today, had purposely allowed himself to react. If he hadn't he knew that the other boy would continue to push until he did.

And _that_ was what worried him. Before, Yukimura would have stopped. Now, he'd either forgotten how to or he no longer cared. Sanada wasn't sure which would be worse. The thought of either made him feel sick.

He wondered if his friend had even really seen Sakuno. If he'd actually listened to a single word she'd said or if he'd been too busy playing human chess to notice who she was. _What _she was.

Sanada didn't worry about the Regulars. They could handle Yukimura's manipulations. But Sakuno was small. Young. And no matter how well she'd handled everything the club had thrown at her so far, she was undoubtedly too fragile to handle Yukimura at his worst.

The _universe_ was too fragile to handle Yukimura at his worst.

Sanada took a moment to thank the Powers That Be that his friend had decided to go into tennis instead of weapons development.

"Senpai?" Sakuno's voice was small, hesitant. "Are you alright?"

He turned his head to look at her. She stood, clutching her small bag tightly to her chest, concern written all over her tiny face.

His face softened almost imperceptibly as he answered in the affirmative and stood up. She caught it and smiled brightly at him. He took her bag and started walking, his steps much slower and smaller than usual. She trotted alongside him happily.

He looked down at her.

She was a nice girl.

"I'm sorry you had to wait so long."

She didn't deserve to be manipulated.

"I hurt my hand a few years ago."

She didn't deserve to be hurt.

"It's fine now but nii-chan insists on check-ups."

And Yukimura . . .

"He worries too much."

Yukimura didn't deserve the guilt he'd feel once he realized what he'd done.

"Everybody does."

And he would.

"Like today!"

Once he was thinking clearly again he'd hate himself for it.

"Niou-senpai and Marui-senpai, and Akaya-senpai were being so silly."

Sanada knew his friend.

"But Yukimura-senpai was so nice!"

He knew what he had to do.

"I had fun today."

He looked down at Sakuno's bright smile and thought of Yukimura's that day at the bridge, small and strong and terribly, terribly kind.

"Did you have fun senpai?"

He would protect them both.

He had to.

* * *

**A/N: Not quite as long as the last chapter but I had a very set idea of where and how I wanted this chapter to end. **

**As always reviews are both appreciated and adored.**

**Next Chapter: Seigaku. Finally. Also, Hyotei comes back. **


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